Justice Department building guards physically remove a sit-in protester outside the Wasington, D.C. office of Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach March 9, 1965.

 

The sit-in was calling for federal intervention to protect civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama following a police attack on a non-violent march at the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Alabama on March 7th.

 

It was the second day of sit-ins at the building that were organized by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

 

The 170 demonstrators were removed from the building, but not arrested.

 

Confrontational protests in Washington, D.C. continued daily for two weeks after the attack in Selma and included sit-ins at the Capitol and the White House, blocking traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as well as pickets, church meetings and mass demonstrations.

 

The Selma march had been precipitated by the murder of Jimmie Lee Johnson, African American veteran and civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama and a deacon in the Baptist church.

 

On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper. Jackson died eight days later in the hospital.

 

The first Selma to Montgomery march was recorded by television cameras and showed Alabama state troopers indiscriminately attacking peaceful civil rights demonstrators. Many of the protesters were badly injured in the attack.

 

A second march from Selma to Montgomery was attempted on March 9th, the same day as the sit-in pictured above. However, the march was again halted at the bridge—this time without violence during the demonstration.

 

However white Unitarian minister James Reeb and two other ministers were beaten by the Ku Klux Klan while waiting for a third march to be organized. Reeb, who was assistant minister of All Souls Church in Washington 1962-64, died of his injuries two days later.

 

On March 11th, Attorney General Katzenbach announced that the federal government was intending to prosecute local and state officials who were responsible for the attacks on the marchers on March 7th. He would use an 1870 civil rights law as the basis for charges.

 

Despite ongoing demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and continuing violence in Selma, President Lyndon Johnson refused to provide federal protection to civil rights demonstrators telling a March 12th press conference he wouldn’t be “black jacked” into acting by “pressure” groups.

 

However on March 15h, Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress and outlined his new voting rights bill, and demanded that they pass it.

 

On March 17th, U.S. District Court Judge Minis Johnson ruled in favor of the protesters, saying their First Amendment right to march in protest could not be abridged by the state of Alabama:

 

“The law is clear that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups . ... These rights may ... be exercised by marching, even along public highways.”

 

The president federalized the Alabama National Guard on March 20th to escort the third march from Selma.

 

The third march got underway March 21st and climaxed in Montgomery with a demonstration of 25,000 people on March 25th. The march itself went without incident.

 

However, later that night, Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five from Detroit who had come to Alabama to support voting rights for blacks, was assassinated by Ku Klux Klan members while she was ferrying marchers back to Selma from Montgomery.

 

Among the Klansmen in the car from which the shots were fired was FBI informant Gary Rowe. Afterward, the FBI's COINTELPRO operation spread false rumors that Liuzzo was a member of the Communist Party and had abandoned her children to have sexual relationships with African-American activists.

 

The Selma to Montgomery voting rights marchers and attacks on them by Alabama state troopers along with the murders of Johnson, Reeb and Liuzzo created the political climate that helped spur President Johnson to introduce and Congress ultimately pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

 

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsk6Kj5r8

 

The photographer is unknown. The image is an Associated Press photograph housed in the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection.

 

Mixed-use is a style of urban development, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment uses into one space, where those functions are to some degree physically and functionally integrated, and that provides pedestrian connections.[1][2][3] Mixed-use development may be applied to a single building, a block or neighborhood, or in zoning policy across an entire city or other political unit. These projects may be completed by a private developer, (quasi-) governmental agency, or a combination thereof. A mixed-use development may be new construction, reuse of an existing building or brownfield site, or a combination. Traditionally, human settlements have developed in mixed-use patterns. However, with industrialization as well as the invention of the skyscraper, governmental zoning regulations were introduced to separate different functions, such as manufacturing, from residential areas. Public health concerns and the protection of property values stood as the motivation behind this separation.[4] The practice of zoning for single-family residential use was instigated to safeguard communities from negative externalities; including air, noise, and light pollution; associated with heavier industrial practices.[4] In the United States, the heyday of separate-use zoning was after World War II, but since the 1990s, mixed-use zoning has once again become desirable as it works to combat urban sprawl and increase economic vitality.[4][5]

 

In most of Europe, government policy has encouraged the continuation of the city center's role as a main location for business, retail, restaurant, and entertainment activity, unlike in the United States where zoning actively discouraged such mixed use for many decades. As a result, much of Europe's central cities are mixed use "by default" and the term "mixed-use" is much more relevant regarding new areas of the city, when an effort is made to mix residential and commercial activities – such as in Amsterdam's Eastern Docklands – rather than separate them.[6][7]

 

Expanded use of mixed-use zoning and mixed-use developments may be found in a variety of contexts, such as the following (multiple such contexts might apply to one particular project or situation):[8]

 

as part of smart growth planning strategies

in traditional urban neighborhoods, as part of urban renewal and/or infill, i.e. upgrading the buildings and public spaces and amenities of the neighborhood to provide more and/or better housing and a better quality of life - examples include Barracks Row in Washington, D.C. and East Liberty, Pittsburgh

in traditional suburbs, adding one or more mixed-use developments to provide a new or more prominent "downtown" for the community - examples include new projects in downtown Bethesda, Maryland, an inner suburb of Washington, D.C., and the Excelsior & Grand complex in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, an inner suburb of Minneapolis

greenfield developments, i.e. new construction on previously undeveloped land, particularly at the edge of metropolitan areas and in their exurbs, often as part of creating a relatively denser center for the community – an edge city, or part of one, zoned for mixed use, in the 2010s often labeled "urban villages". Examples include Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia and Halcyon in Forsyth County, Georgia, at the edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area

the repurposing of shopping malls and intensification of development around them, particularly as many shopping malls' retail sales, and ability to rent space to retailers, decrease as part of the 2010s retail apocalypse

Any of the above contexts may also include parallel contexts such as:

 

Transit-oriented development - for example in Los Angeles and San Diego where the cities made across-the-board zoning law changes permitting denser development within a certain distance of certain types of transit stations, with the primary aim of increasing the amount and affordability of housing[9]

Older cities such as Chicago and San Francisco have historic preservation policies that sometimes offer more flexibility for older buildings to be used for purposes other than what they were originally zoned for, with the aim of preserving historic architecture[10]

 

Benefits[edit]

Economic

 

Mixed-use developments are home to significant employment and housing opportunities.[11] Many of these projects are already located in established downtown districts, meaning that development of public transit systems is incentivized in these regions.[12] By taking undervalued and underutilized land, often former heavy industrial, developers can repurpose it to increase land and property values.[11] These projects also increase housing variety, density, and oftentimes affordability through their focus on multifamily, rather than single-family housing compounds.[13]

 

Social

 

This development pattern is centered around the idea of “live, work, play,” transforming buildings and neighborhoods into multi-use entities. Efficiency, productivity, and quality of life are also increased with regards to workplaces holding a plethora of amenities.[12] Examples include gyms, restaurants, bars, and shopping. Mixed-use neighborhoods promote community and socialization through their bringing together of employees, visitors, and residents.[12] A distinctive character and sense-of-place is created by transforming single use districts that may run for eight hours a day (Ex. Commercial office spaces running 9am - 5pm) into communities that can run eighteen hours a day through the addition of cafes, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs.[13] Safety of neighborhoods is in turn increased as people stay out on the streets for longer hours.

 

Environmental

 

Mixed-use neighborhoods and buildings have a strong ability to adapt to changing social and economic environments. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, New York retail businesses located on long, commercially-oriented blocks suffered severely as they were no longer attracting an audience of passersby. By combining multiple functions into one building or development, mixed-use districts can build resiliency through their ability to attract and maintain visitors. Pedestrian and bike-friendly infrastructure is also fostered in these districts due to their increased density and reduced distances between housing, workplaces, retail businesses, and other amenities and destinations.[4] Mixed-use projects promote health and wellness, as these developments often provide better access (whether it be by foot, bicycle, or transit) to farmer's markets and grocery stores.[13]

 

Drawbacks[edit]

Equity

 

Due to the neoliberalist nature of large scale real estate developments, mega-mixed-use projects often fall short on meeting equity and affordability goals. High-end residential, upscale retail, and Class A office spaces appealing to high-profile tenants are often prioritized due to their speculative potential.[11] These projects are made to be attractive to businesses and individuals with significant capital.

 

Financing

 

Mixed-use buildings can be risky given that there are multiple tenants residing in one development.[12] Mega-mixed-use projects, like Hudson Yards, are also extremely expensive. This development has cost the City of New York over 2.2 billion dollars.[14] Critics argue that taxpayer dollars could better serve the general public if spent elsewhere.[14] Additionally, mixed-use developments, as a catalyst for economic growth, may not serve their intended purpose if they simply shift economic activity, rather than create it. A study done by JLL found that “90 percent of Hudson Yards’ new office tenants relocated from Midtown."[14]

 

Aesthetics

 

Mixed-use projects may be seen as disjointed from the surrounding environment. Preserving local character, histories, and charm conflicts with building designs that represent economic growth and modernity.[11] Mixed-use projects are often at the center of this conflict.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed-use_development

I started dieting April 15, 2012. Yes, I remember the day bc I glorified it for so many years. I started bc I didn’t physically feel well a lot of the time & I struggled with body image. We all know the cure for that: DIET & EXERCISE! Right?? I posted about my journey for “accountability” and got so much positive feedback. “You look amazing! You’re such an inspiration! Can you help me too?” I was so excited bc I hadn’t ever moved my body or honored it in anyway prior to that. Fueled by the results & positive reinforcement, I kept looking for better ways to diet and exercise for a few years. Then I found CrossFit, an entire global community of dieters & exercisers looking to do as much of both as possible. Perfect! For over 5 years I learned to micro-manage every seed I put into my mouth and sweat more than I ever had in my life. I was so proud to be a woman that was strong. And I still am. But things started to change eventually.

 

Every morning I’d wait until I pooped to weigh myself naked so that I would know the REAL number. What’s this?? How did my weight go up when I paid someone to tell me exactly how much to eat?! Must have been too much broccoli. I’ll pack food to bring to the pizza party. I’ll go “super clean” before the trip, party, event, etc. Everything I learned about, I tried. When information conflicted, I hedged my bets and restricted more of it. I wanted to be the gold standard and I wasn’t going to let anything mess that up. I even became Precision Nutrition “certified” because paying people to tell me what they learned in that one book - that apparently gave them the legal right to charge people to help them restrict food without any other credentials in nutrition or psychology - wasn’t working, so I opted to just become certified myself. And then the inevitable happened... it all stopped working. No matter what I did, who I paid, the results just stopped. My body began to bloat in ways I couldn’t anticipate, no matter what I added or eliminated. Physical discomfort I didn’t know how to stop. The stress of this sent me spiraling emotionally. The only logical explanation was that I was doing something wrong, that there was something I wasn’t doing, and that I wasn’t doing enough. My mind and time were consumed with how to control my body through food & exercise. Devastated when those around me succeeded with less perceived effort than me. I gave myself no leeway.

 

In May 2017 I was in the thick of this. I had been single for about a year and was ready to start dating again. I had been strict intermittent fasting, 8-10 hours of eating & 14-16 off, no matter what. I was asked on a date by someone I was actually really excited about. We had met a few years back working a wedding together and he was really cool. We made the date for a Wednesday night. I was coaching early on Wednesdays then, which meant I needed to start eating earlier in the day. 7-5 to be exact. I decided to do this even though I knew I was going out that night. NO EXCUSES!! Unfortunately the 2 drinks I had over the 4 hour date left me absolutely drunk and spinning.

We were having a fun evening up until that point.

I didn’t feel unsafe going back to his place to sober up.

I thought I could trust him.

I was tragically mistaken.

When I came to and stopped him I remember him trying to explain why it was ok that he was doing what he was doing. He really liked me and would be my boyfriend, he said. Date rape is a terrible and confusing thing to have happen to you. It took me over a week, walking around like a zombie, and a very concerned response from a friend when I told her the story, to really understand what happened to me. I broke ties with him immediately and tried to move on. I acknowledged the truth, felt what I needed to, and opted to learn from it. That year I only shot one wedding and it was out of state. I pulled up to the venue and I see him walking towards me. Out of all the videographers they could have possibly hired, they chose him. And I worked with him. I knew I had to. I could not go up to a bride on her wedding day, as she’s getting ready, and tell her I can’t do it. I learned a lot about my strength as a woman that day.

 

I think it’s important to understand that this happened to me at a time when I least expected it to. I was, and still am, at a point in my life where I consider myself to be a very happy person. I had become self-employed and was enjoying the successes of that. I didn’t view my dieting and exercising as anything bad at the time, and took a lot of pride in my discipline and knowledge. I was happy being single and very selective about who I went out with. I was confident I’d never put myself into a dangerous position again. I felt strong and empowered. It took me a long time to realize how my dieting/exercise routine had contributed to the events of that night. That guy is 100% responsible for his actions that night. It also breaks my heart to think about that version of myself that was so afraid to eat food. A version that weighed her options and chose to drink on an empty stomach and put her trust into her date’s hands.

 

My best friend got married in August 2019, and I was thrilled to be her Maid of Honor. A very special role with a lot of responsibilities and investments. I cleaned up my eating for months beforehand, and was exclusively strict for the month leading up to the big day. By the time the wedding day came, I was happy enough with my results. I was still struggling with my body image and not looking how I felt I should have with the amount of effort I put in. All that effort paired with the time and money invested into the wedding, I became terrified that if I ate any of the food at the wedding I would either A.) get sick because I knew how my body would react to foods I hadn’t been allowing myself to eat, and/or B.) bloat up and undo all the hard work I’d put in for months to look a certain way. So when everyone else was grabbing slices from the pizza food truck, or sampling the dessert options, I was eating cucumbers and hummus at my table. I wasn’t happy about it either. I felt sorry for myself and made up for it at the open bar. I had a great time at her wedding, but know now just how much more fun and enjoyment I could have shared on this most memorable of occasions.

 

The dangers of diet culture were completely unknown and unheard of in my life until I met my friend Iona. She and her partner run a movement based community in Boston, and I fell in love with them immediately. They used to be Crossfitters so I knew I would be understood there. She would talk a little bit about Crossfit and why she wasn’t doing it anymore and why she had stopped restricting food. Sounded good for her, but I couldn’t imagine not watching what I ate. But we’d keep chatting, and followed each other on social media so I was seeing the things she was sharing on the topic. Some things she shared didn’t sound like me at all. I had never been as great as she was and didn’t feel like our stories were the same. I had started a deep mediation practice at the beginning of 2019 that started to shake the foundation of my food & body beliefs. As I listened more to her story, and as I deepened my own personal awareness, I found myself deeply resonating with her. I was having a hard time putting uncomfortable feelings into words. She recommended two books to me: The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner, and Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole.

 

It has been a year since I read The Fuck It Diet, and it shook me down to my core. So much of what she was describing sounded just like everything I was feeling. I felt angry at an industry I was a loyal disciple of for years. I felt ashamed of all the preaching in it’s favor I had done over the years. I felt overwhelmed in realizing that all the work I had put into optimizing my body was actually doing the opposite. I knew without a doubt that this was what my body and soul needed. A release from the confinement of diet culture. So I purchased Intuitive Eating and the accompanying workbook, and spent the last year slowly chipping away at the 10 principles of IE. In TFID she mentions that it can take 3-6 months for people to heal from disordered eating, some more and some less. I figured I’d be done nice and quick. Nope. This shit is HARD. So hard. Especially when the world shuts down 1 month into your practice and turns your world upside-down. I suffered a lot during the quarantine, and I did it silently. I couldn’t share my pain, and didn’t know how to. But I kept at it. I knew I couldn’t give up on this, too much was on the line. I moved in with my boyfriend during the pandemic which threw in a whole new twist and added challenges. I started unfollowing influencers & nutrition pages by the dozen. I utilized a food delivery service to help me take the pressure off of thinking about food so much. I was sick of it. I reached out to Iona for support. And I kept at it, even when it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I kept at it. I knew my life depended on it.

 

Then some amazing things started to happen. I would put the pint of Ben & Jerry’s back in the fridge instead of eating it all at once. I could eat half my food at a restaurant and easily ask to bring the rest home. A package of cookies went stale in the cabinet because I just didn’t feel like eating them. I started buying new clothes that fit my body now, and even went as far as to go shopping when I felt most uncomfortable and bloated so I knew I could trust my clothes to truly bring me comfort. I can say no when I’m not hungry. I’m starting to be able to truly identify my hunger and fullness cues, and honor them. I’m starting to trust that my body knows what it’s doing and that it knows what size it wants to be. I can trust myself around food now because I know, without a doubt, that I can have it if I want to. Restriction is what leads to overeating, not the other way around. This, by far, has been the hardest but truest lesson I’ve learned in the decade I’ve spent educating myself on fitness and nutrition. I still have a lot of work to do, practice makes progress, and progress is never linear.

 

I have chosen to share this experience for a few reasons. First, the bravery of my friend sharing her vulnerable yet powerful healing experience inspired me to do the same for myself. This is the biggest hope for this project. We don’t get to choose who we influence, or how our influence is received. But we all have a story, and someone out there needs to hear YOUR story. Second, this has been one of the biggest personal items I have been working on recently and has caused a big upheaval in how I approach my life and my work. I pride myself on being openminded and allowing myself the grace to change my mind. Changing my mind on fitness and nutrition was not something I was expecting, and it is not what big diet culture wants us to believe. It is woven into our healthcare, media, and schools. Third, this is a topic I know millions of people, especially women, struggle with every single day. Fourth and final reason is the intersection of so many things in this experience. Self-worth, body image, sexism, science as a religion. Too much of what we think has been put there by someone else. My hope is that sharing my experience with diet culture, date rape, and orthorexia (eating disorder with the preoccupation with eating healthy food) that someone else will be inspired to free themselves from these cages and live life a little happier. Food CAN be neutral and our bodies do know what they’re doing.

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer, pronounced [bɛʁˈliːnɐ ˈmaʊ̯ɐ]) was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall cut off (by land) West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany.

 

GDR authorities officially referred to the Berlin Wall as the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall). The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame", a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt in reference to the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize physically the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.

 

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from there they could then travel to West Germany and to other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989 the Wall prevented almost all such emigrations During this period over 100,000 people attempted to escape and over 5,000 people succeeded in escaping over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.

 

In 1989 a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries - Poland and Hungary in particular - caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Wall. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of what was left. The "fall of the Berlin Wall" paved the way for German reunification, which formally took place on 3 October 1990.

 

BACKGROUND

POST-WAR GERMANY

After the end of World War II in Europe, what remained of pre-war Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line was divided into four occupation zones (as per the Potsdam Agreement), each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. The capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the city's location, which was fully within the Soviet zone.

 

Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the other occupying powers. These included the Soviets' refusal to agree to reconstruction plans making post-war Germany self-sufficient and to a detailed accounting of the industrial plants, goods and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets. France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Benelux countries later met to combine the non-Soviet zones of the country into one zone for reconstruction and to approve the extension of the Marshall Plan.

 

EASTERN BLOC AND THE BERLIN AIRLIFT

Following World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin headed a group of nations on his Western border, the Eastern Bloc, that then included Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which he wished to maintain alongside a weakened Soviet-controlled Germany. As early as 1945, Stalin revealed to German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within the British occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two, and that nothing would then stand in the way of a united communist Germany within the bloc.

 

The major task of the ruling communist party in the Soviet zone was to channel Soviet orders down to both the administrative apparatus and the other bloc parties, which in turn would be presented as internal measures. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone. If statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and (for persons outside public attention) punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death.

 

Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a compulsory part of school curricula, sending professors and students fleeing to the West. The East Germans created an elaborate political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance, including Soviet SMERSH secret police.

 

In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies. The Soviets mounted a public relations campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.

 

The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared on 7 October 1949. By a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control.

 

East Germany differed from West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy ("Soziale Marktwirtschaft" in German) and a democratic parliamentary government. Continual economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year "economic miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder"). As West Germany's economy grew, and its standard of living steadily improved, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany.

 

EMIGRATION WESTWARD IN THE EARLY 1950s

After the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, the majority of those living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence and wanted the Soviets to leave. Taking advantage of the zonal border between occupied zones in Germany, the number of GDR citizens moving to West Germany totaled 187,000 in 1950; 165,000 in 1951; 182,000 in 1952; and 331,000 in 1953. One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization, given the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953. 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.

 

ERECTION OF THE INNER GERMAN BORDER

By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement, restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany. The restrictions presented a quandary for some Eastern Bloc states, which had been more economically advanced and open than the Soviet Union, such that crossing borders seemed more natural - especially where no prior border existed between East and West Germany.

 

Up until 1952, the demarcation lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places. On 1 April 1952, East German leaders met the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Moscow; during the discussions Stalin's foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov proposed that the East Germans should "introduce a system of passes for visits of West Berlin residents to the territory of East Berlin [so as to stop] free movement of Western agents" in the GDR. Stalin agreed, calling the situation "intolerable". He advised the East Germans to build up their border defenses, telling them that "The demarcation line between East and West Germany should be considered a border - and not just any border, but a dangerous one ... The Germans will guard the line of defence with their lives."

 

Consequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed, and a barbed-wire fence erected. The border between the Western and Eastern sectors of Berlin, however, remained open, although traffic between the Soviet and the Western sectors was somewhat restricted. This resulted in Berlin becoming a magnet for East Germans desperate to escape life in the GDR, and also a flashpoint for tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.

 

In 1955, the Soviets gave East Germany authority over civilian movement in Berlin, passing control to a regime not recognized in the West. Initially, East Germany granted "visits" to allow its residents access to West Germany. However, following the defection of large numbers of East Germans under this regime, the new East German state legally restricted virtually all travel to the West in 1956. Soviet East German ambassador Mikhail Pervukhin observed that "the presence in Berlin of an open and essentially uncontrolled border between the socialist and capitalist worlds unwittingly prompts the population to make a comparison between both parts of the city, which unfortunately does not always turn out in favour of Democratic [East] Berlin."

 

BERLIN EMIGRATION LOOPHOLE

With the closing of the inner German border officially in 1952, the border in Berlin remained considerably more accessible because it was administered by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West. On 11 December 1957, East Germany introduced a new passport law that reduced the overall number of refugees leaving Eastern Germany.

 

It had the unintended result of drastically increasing the percentage of those leaving through West Berlin from 60% to well over 90% by the end of 1958. Those caught trying to leave East Berlin were subjected to heavy penalties, but with no physical barrier and subway train access still available to West Berlin, such measures were ineffective. The Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape. The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totalled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.

 

An important reason that crossing the inner German border was not stopped earlier was that doing so would cut off much of the railway traffic in East Germany. Construction of a new railway bypassing West Berlin, the Berlin outer ring, commenced in 1951. Following the completion of the railway in 1961, closing the border became a more practical proposition. (See History of rail transport in Germany.)

 

BRAIN DRAIN

The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the "brain drain" feared by officials in East Germany.[28] Yuri Andropov, then the CPSU Director on Relations with Communist and Workers' Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote an urgent letter on 28 August 1958, to the Central Committee about the significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among the refugees. Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material. He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."

 

An East German SED propaganda booklet published in 1955 dramatically described the serious nature of 'flight from the republic':

 

Both from the moral standpoint as well as in terms of the interests of the whole German nation, leaving the GDR is an act of political and moral backwardness and depravity.

 

Those who let themselves be recruited objectively serve West German Reaction and militarism, whether they know it or not. Is it not despicable when for the sake of a few alluring job offers or other false promises about a "guaranteed future" one leaves a country in which the seed for a new and more beautiful life is sprouting, and is already showing the first fruits, for the place that favours a new war and destruction?

 

Is it not an act of political depravity when citizens, whether young people, workers, or members of the intelligentsia, leave and betray what our people have created through common labour in our republic to offer themselves to the American or British secret services or work for the West German factory owners, Junkers, or militarists? Does not leaving the land of progress for the morass of an historically outdated social order demonstrate political backwardness and blindness? ...

 

Workers throughout Germany will demand punishment for those who today leave the German Democratic Republic, the strong bastion of the fight for peace, to serve the deadly enemy of the German people, the imperialists and militarists.

 

By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war. The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals: engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers. The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany (and corresponding gain to the West) has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses. In addition, the drain of East Germany's young population potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment. The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative.

 

The exodus of emigrants from East Germany presented two minor potential benefits: an easy opportunity to smuggle East German secret agents to West Germany, and a reduction in the number of citizens hostile to the communist regime. Neither of these advantages, however, proved particularly useful.

 

HOW KHRUSHEV-KENNEDY RELATIONS AFFECTED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALL

In April 1961 , Khrushchev gained an impression that Kennedy is not very smart when he saw Washington supporting the failed invasion of Cuba by anti-communist exiles which were than left to their fate. Khrushchev decided to alarm rather than appease the president. He soon revealed his intention of signing the separate peace treaty with East Germany that would abolish allied rights in West Berlin. One of his intentions was therefore to get whole of the Berlin. However, this action had risks behind it. The risks that we are taking is justified. If we look at it in the terms of a percentage, there is more than a 95% chance that there will be no war. It meant that 5% was an actual chance of having a war. Khrushchev's assumptions about Kennedy were false. He made clear that the chance of having a war was bigger that 5%. He showed the unpredictability of US's policy. All though Soviet forces were not on high alert, the plans were nonetheless changed to deal with the consequences of the Kennedy's actions. It was then decided to block the access of the West Berlin from the East. That is when the construction of the wall started.

 

1961 - CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

On 15 June 1961, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.

 

The transcript of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on 1 August in the same year, suggests that the initiative for the construction of the Wall came from Khrushchev. However, other sources suggest that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall, fearing negative Western reaction. What is beyond dispute, though, is that Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for quite some time, arguing that East Germany's very existence was at stake.

 

Khrushchev had become emboldened upon seeing US President John F. Kennedy's youth and inexperience show as weakness against Khrushchev's brutal, undiplomatic aggression. This feeling of miscalculation and failure is admitted by Kennedy in the U.S. ambassador's residence with New York Times columnist James "Scotty" Reston. Kennedy made the regrettable error of admitting that the US would not actively oppose this action in the Soviet sector of Berlin. On Saturday, 12 August 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin. There Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall.

 

At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and, by Sunday morning, 13 August, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres around the three western sectors, and the 43 kilometres that divided West and East Berlin. The date of 13 August became commonly referred to as Barbed Wire Sunday in Germany.

 

The barrier was built inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point. Generally, the Wall was only slightly inside East Berlin, but in a few places it was some distance from the legal border, most notably at Potsdamer Bahnhof and the Lenné Triangle that is now much of the Potsdamer Platz development.

 

Later, the initial barrier was built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on 17 August. During the construction of the Wall, National People's Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germany's western border with West Germany proper. A huge no man's land was cleared to provide a clear line of fire at fleeing refugees.

 

IMMEDIATE EFFECTS

With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Berlin soon went from being the easiest place to make an unauthorized crossing between East and West Germany to being the most difficult Many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the Wall, led by their Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, "The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is - it is to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to communist failure."

 

United States and UK sources had expected the Soviet sector to be sealed off from West Berlin, but were surprised by how long the East Germans took for such a move. They considered the Wall as an end to concerns about a GDR/Soviet retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the Wall would presumably have been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus they concluded that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin had decreased.

 

The East German government claimed that the Wall was an "anti-fascist protective rampart" (German: "antifaschistischer Schutzwall") intended to dissuade aggression from the West. Another official justification was the activities of Western agents in Eastern Europe. The Eastern German government also claimed that West Berliners were buying out state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time, the border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but not for residents of West Berlin travelling to the East. The construction of the Wall had caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin.

 

SECONDARY RESPONSE

The National Security Agency was the only American intelligence agency that was aware that East Germany was to take action to deal with the brain drain problem. On 9 August 1961, the NSA intercepted an advance warning information of the Socialist Unity Party's plan to close the intra-Berlin border between East and West Berlin completely for foot traffic. The interagency intelligence Berlin Watch Committee assessed that this intercept "might be the first step in a plan to close the border." This warning did not reach U.S. President John F. Kennedy until noon on 13 August 1961, while he was vacationing in his yacht off the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. While Kennedy was angry that he had no advance warning, he was relieved that the East Germans and the Soviets had only divided Berlin without taking any action against West Berlin's access to the West. However, he denounced the Berlin Wall, whose erection worsened the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

 

In response to the erection of the Berlin Wall, a retired general, Lucius D. Clay, was appointed by Kennedy as his special advisor and sent to Berlin with ambassadorial rank. Clay had been the Military Governor of the US Zone of Occupation in Germany during the period of the Berlin Blockade and had ordered the first measures in what became the Berlin Airlift. He was immensely popular with the residents of West Berlin, and his appointment was an unambiguous sign that Kennedy would not compromise on the status of West Berlin. Clay and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson arrived at Tempelhof Airport on the afternoon of Saturday, 19 August 1961.

 

They arrived in a city defended by three Allied brigades—one each from the UK, the US, and France (the Forces Françaises à Berlin). On 16 August, Kennedy had given the order for them to be reinforced. Early on 19 August, the 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry (commanded by Colonel Glover S. Johns Jr.) was alerted.

 

On Sunday morning, U.S. troops marched from West Germany through East Germany, bound for West Berlin. Lead elements - arranged in a column of 491 vehicles and trailers carrying 1,500 men, divided into five march units - left the Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint at 06:34. At Marienborn, the Soviet checkpoint next to Helmstedt on the West German-East German border, US personnel were counted by guards. The column was 160 kilometres long, and covered 177 kilometres from Marienborn to Berlin in full battle gear. East German police watched from beside trees next to the autobahn all the way along.

 

The front of the convoy arrived at the outskirts of Berlin just before noon, to be met by Clay and Johnson, before parading through the streets of Berlin in front of a large crowd. At 04:00 on 21 August, Lyndon Johnson left West Berlin in the hands of General Frederick O. Hartel and his brigade of 4,224 officers and men. "For the next three and a half years, American battalions would rotate into West Berlin, by autobahn, at three month intervals to demonstrate Allied rights to the city".

 

The creation of the Wall had important implications for both German states. By stemming the exodus of people from East Germany, the East German government was able to reassert its control over the country: in spite of discontent with the Wall, economic problems caused by dual currency and the black market were largely eliminated. The economy in the GDR began to grow. But, the Wall proved a public relations disaster for the communist bloc as a whole. Western powers portrayed it as a symbol of communist tyranny, particularly after East German border guards shot and killed would-be defectors. Such fatalities were later treated as acts of murder by the reunified Germany.

 

WIKIPEDIA

___________

. . . space here is limited - so for further reading go to Wikipedia

 

• Yedmanjath: Humanoids of Terramos that share the role of the planet's dominant race with the Gworjini. They are more numerous than Gworjini, but are considered less intelligent and blessed than them, while being more intelligent and blessed than the Chighoths or Ninishi. Yedmanjaths are also the largest and physically strongest native humanoids on Terramos, usually being well over five feet tall and fairly muscular. In appearance, they are bright and colorful, as is characteristic of most races in the Alpha Octant, where almost everything is blessed by the Heavens. Their core skin is usually pinkish and/or orangish on the axial portions of their bodies (head and torso), while it is usually yellow on their appendicular portions (limbs), though most of a Yedmanjath's body is usually covered up by clothing or armor, in part due to the relatively strong taboo the race holds on nudity. Yedmanjath clothing is predominantly greenish in color, and is deliberately reminiscent of leaves. Yedmanjaths are also notable for bearing unique structures on their heads that are connected to the inner apparatuses of their ears, which are externally antenna–like, and can be manually adjusted to alter hearing levels; they can double their hearing power from its normal level, turn it off completely, or set it to anywhere in–between. This peculiar power has few practical uses, however.

The Yedmanjath population is the most spread–out among all four humanoid Terramian races. While the Gworjini population is almost entirely centered in high concentration around the Guardian and the World Tree, and both the Chighoths and Ninishi have many villages throughout the planet's forests and jungles, the Yedmanjaths have established multiple settlements not only in all of these regions, but also beyond them, in the desert–like and mountainous outer regions of Terramos where few opt to go. This is mainly so that the Yedmanjath people can experience as broad a range of natural environments as possible, and also partly to keep a watch over the Krinchu, hostile beasts which were exiled into the desert in Age 631 through a "Grand Purge" (which the Yedmanjaths played a major part in), should they ever attempt to move back towards the central regions of Terramos. In this event, the Yedmanjaths would be the most capable of driving them back out of all the planet's mortal races.

The durability value possessed by the average Yedmanjath is about 900.

 

• Sardoompa: The largest native creature of Xekawiy. The Sardoompa is a large and hairy beast–hominid with a mostly dark and drab color scheme. It is a vicious predator that is at the top of its planet's food chain and whose natural diet even includes Aspimeans, making it one of the few non–demonic creatures that will eat sentient humanoids. However, compared to the Arptirror, which eats Anyugari and has long been a constant threat for that race, the Sardoompa is not as common, and rarely comes in direct contact with Aspimeans due to the fact that it lives primarily in the mountainous regions of Xekawiy, while the Aspimeans generally live near the shoreline of the planet's continent and seldom venture into the mountains, instead opting to get the majority of their food and resources from the jungle regions which are closer to most of their villages. However, Sardoompas can occasionally be found in regions other than the mountains, and thus Aspimeans do occasionally come across them from time to time, almost always ending in bloodshed. Overall, the average number of Aspimeans killed by Sardoompas annually is in the low hundreds.

Sardoompas are fairly intelligent and resourceful beasts given their brutish nature. As is standard for creatures of their caliber and nature, they generally live alone in and around semipermanent makeshift dwellings, usually caves. Physically, their most notable unique feature is three hatch–like eyes that open and close in a spastic pattern (or lack thereof) so that all three are never open or closed simultaneously. The durability value of the Sardoompa is 2,000.

 

• Amgoltanna: This is one of the tiniest creatures in the Nava–Verse worthy of having its own entry. The Amgoltanna is an insect only marginally larger than generic ones and measures just a few inches. The durability value of a single one is 100. However, the boringness ends there. The Amgoltanna has six fully articulated limbs including humanoid arms, a normal–sized eyeball in lieu of a face, and tiny frontal tusks to protect itself. These features give it the appearance of looking really, really cool. Functionally, it is also very strong for such a small creature, and can carry well over ten times its own weight.

Amgoltannas live just barely underground in colonies of thousands, and are believed to be native to Dirtrama. They have spread to a few other planets in the Delta Octant including Sertrop and Yominasst since they first appeared. When walking on a planet on which Amgoltannas exist, especially Dirtrama, one must be on the lookout for unusual bumps in the ground, which may be easily–exposed nests of the insects. A full swarm of them is capable of killing more fragile humanoids.

 

• Klufjak: Klufjaks are giant, mobile, sentient clams from Hulptos. They have strong back flippers (not pictured) and X–ray vision which allow them to move freely and see properly with their shells closed, respectively. Opening the shell reveals a monstrous double–face and double–mouth flanked by sixteen wriggling, acidic tendrils. A Klufjak may be difficult to distinguish from a normal clam, and this is no accident, for the creature deliberately lures prey to its doom by hiding inside its shell. It is in fact a mammal, despite appearances. Have caution when exploring the Hulptosian ocean floor. The durability value of the Klufjak's shell is more than 1,000, and that of the creature inside is 500. Note that several valuable pearls can be found buried deep within the creature's body if one is willing and able to kill it.

 

• Vorthmon: The Vorthmon is another plant–like animal that can be found on Terramos. Unlike the Omgnogg, it is a vicious and mobile omnivorous predator that preys on most varieties of life forms smaller than itself. Its body is made up of a mass of vines, most of which are concealed inside the permanent cocoon that covers the torso of the adult Vorthmon. The first year of the creature’s life is spent growing this protective shell in the care of its parents. When the cocoon is fully grown, it is sent out into the wild. The extremities of both types of limb consist of spiked structures that can be snapped closed at will, and the Vorthmon’s mouth is a similar case. Its tongue is adhesive, very long, and can change colors within the red–pink spectrum. Vorthmons are about 2.5 feet in size and weigh around 45 pounds. They have durability values of 300–400.

 

• Notsulgor: Notsulgors may have two heads, but it is known for a fact that they have only one consciousness per individual. Note that the two adjacent heads share the features of a single face, and always move in conjunction with one another. Some consider this somewhat creepy. This creature lives on planet Logdlind, a planet with a trichotomy of mountains, depressions and vast lakes, and is equipped with several interesting assets: curved horns on either head, two trunks that can absorb and blast out water or other fluids, two large, flat feet as well as multiple smaller ones for balance, and a small mounted laser (just in case). The Notsulgor has a durability value of 550 and is 3.666 feet in height on average. Boxyobobs sometimes eat them.

 

• Zepslerg: These unsightly and largely harmless creatures of Zornemim are kept as pets by Demioids. They're among the only beings that that race seems to be capable of showing any affection to. Roughly one out of every five Demioids owns at least one, and this is probably because they are the only other domesticable creatures on Zornemim. Zepslergs are slimy and disgusting wretches whose colors are primarily a mess of purple and pink, with distinctly humanoid hands capable of strangling things hidden within their gooey appendages. Their durability values range from 300 to 400; they’re fairly fragile. They are born and grow up inside small sulfuric craters in the ground, and consume things by simply absorbing them into their blobby bodies. Puvivlar of the Dynamo Legion notably kept a Zepslerg, named simply "Precious".

 

• Memojelot: The Jellyfish of Hulptos are said to be among the only creatures carried over from Earth to the Prime Galaxy more–or–less unaltered. The exception to this rule is the Memojelot, which is a beast of a Jellyfish and the most superior species in that family. It has an actual head and face on top of its gelatinous dome, and four specialized tentacles that each inflict a special power upon any other creature they touch. There are a total of ten different tentacle powers a Memojelot can possibly have, though each has only four that are the same from birth. These powers include an exceptionally powerful electrical shock, a current of flame that can exist underwater, corrosive acid, blunt force and more. This powerful Jellyfish’s durability value is 800, more than twice that of any other Jellyfish, and it is over six feet long fully extended.

 

• Cilckger: This strange Sertrophian creature was the basis for the "Driller" weapon. It is a hardy spherical creature with four legs, no discernible face and five fully motorized metallic drills on its body. These drills are almost identical to the Driller weapon, the resemblance being stronger than most other weapons adapted from features of animals. The Cilckger has two positional configurations: one where it crawls on its belly and utilizes the four drills on its sides/top, and one where it primarily makes use of its main frontal drill. In fact, this does lead one to wonder whether the earliest Drillers were actual weapons at all or just severed Cilckger drills.

Due to its tough exterior and lack of vulnerable parts, as well as the drills which can function as deflectors, the Cilckger has a relatively high durability value of 900.

 

• Boxyobob: The primary humanoids of planet Logdlind in the Alpha Octant. They are strong, neutrally–aligned warriors that are ostensibly friendly and pleasant despite their arguably alarming appearances. However, they are afflicted by the horrible flaw of not recognizing the authority of God the Father and His divinities whatsoever, though they are neither Satanic nor do they worship Primal Deities, despite popular belief. The Boxyobobs just… sort of don’t think they need a God. No other race is known to be like this, so it is a particular curiosity. It's particularly jarring considering that they live in the Octant closest to the Heavens.

Boxyobobs somewhat resemble Wrath demons, though the similarity is only superficial. They stand five feet, six inches on average and have durability values in the 700–800 range. Also, they tend to be fantastic chefs.

 

• Ojohkey: The resident humanoids of planet Nonfialy in the Sigma Octant. Ojohkeys are as insane as one can possibly be without crossing the line into evil. Every one of them suffers from multiple mental disorders and their behavior is wildly unpredictable as a result. However, they still have some semblance of a conscience buried somewhere inside all of that insanity. They generally don't attack other humanoids at random, especially each other, but do have a tendency to inflict wanton violence on animals. Also, a small percentage of their population seems to consist of closet pyromaniacs. Ojohkeys have dry, rough bodies with spikes growing on several parts and disproportionately large hands with seven fingers. Their durability values generally start around 600 and go up from there.

 

• Fleturlie: A small, winged angelic creature that roams all the levels of the Heavenly Realms freely. The Fleturlie is a divine beast, like the Glanmi, but is smaller and much less fit for fighting. While the Glanmi was created for the express purpose of protecting the righteous and tearing apart the wicked, the Fleturlie exists simply to spread general joy and love primarily with its adorable demeanor. Widely considered among the cutest creatures in existence, along with the Flufewogs, Fleturlies are fuzzy little creatures with big, bright smiles and even bigger hearts, and generally "speak" only in high–pitched buzzing noises which are actually a language and can in fact be understood by other Fleturlies. Only a heartless monster would ever hurt such a friendly creature. Their durability value is 300.

 

WEAPONS:

• Ergnoplian Shock Pistol

• Skellen Antipersonal Shotgun

• Skellen Clubber Gauntlet

• Yominasstian Jundig Defender

• Yominasstian Pullstring–Caster

• Yominasstian Lightning Bi–Rifle

• Sertrophian Driller

• Sertrophian Rainbow Energy Grenade

• Sertrophian Typhoon Lancer Gun

• Sertrophian Seismic Warhammer

• Sertrophian Beamor Rifle

• Sertrophian Vulcan

• Sertrophian Tropic Scepter

Book 2 - Latex Empress Shimmerah Full book

 

Chapter 1 - The barren lands

Chapter 2 - The shiny sisters

Chapter 3 - The ring of change

Chapter 4 - The cave of greed

Chapter 5 - The stone of seeing

Chapter 6 - The ring of Blindsight

Chapter 7 - The dungeons

Chapter 8 - The forgotten queen

Chapter 9 - A new world

Chapter 10 The Lost fogotton queen of Neonlexia

Chapter 11 - Mass Manipulation

  

Intro

 

Latex Empress Shimmerah is a formidable sorceress from the planet Dommalex, renowned for her immense power, striking beauty, and insatiable ambition for world domination. She is the current ruler of Shimmerathia, a realm she established after conquering the twelve kingdoms and queendoms that previously comprised her continent.

 

She is known as the "hottest girl of all her realm" and maintains her extraordinary beauty through the consumption of "Liquid Youth" from the "Goblet of Youth." Each sip from this goblet is said to make her "ten times more physically perfect," solidifying her status as an object of desire. Her preferred fashion consists of "sexy shiny latex clothing, mostly black," including "very dominant latex outfits, short-skirts, skin-tight catsuits, corsets, and thigh high boots.

 

Latex Empress Shimmerah having conquered and renamed the twelve kingdoms and queendoms to Shimmerathia, Shimmerah's ambition now extends beyond her current realm. She has learned of other worlds through the Mirror of Knowing. Her immediate focus has shifted to the "Lost Lands," ruled by her sister, Shellyana, who is also a powerful Latex Empress. Shimmerah is aware of Staff Island, where powerful sorceresses and wizards, including her former magic teacher Mistress Virella, have gathered to protect their powers and staffs from her. She also knows about the Cave of Greed, which is home to the evil goddess Goldglossin. The cave offers unlimited wishes but at the cost of eternal entrapment, turning individuals into "evil queens" who embody lust. Goldglossin requires ten such queens to break free and rule the realm and beyond. Shimmerah, however, does not wish for Goldglossin to escape, as it would challenge her own ultimate goal of absolute dominion. Her next step, after consolidating power in Shimmerathia, was to teleport to Terrubagron in the Lost Lands, specifically to the golden city where Shellyana resides, indicating a direct confrontation or assimilation of her sister's territory.

  

Chapter 1 - The barren lands

 

Shimmerah now aged 29 had taken all the powers from all the 12 lands she now named Shimmerathia She was very powerfully psychic and could make cities feel as if they were within a dream. She could control people like puppets, change the weather and rise up city’s into the sky. She could make a faded ghost form of her sexy self appear in the sky looking down on all as if she was a goddess. She could disappear and teleport, move anything of any size with her mind, open portals summon demons and much more. All both feared her while having a big crush to her beauty and she was far to sexy perfect that all wanted to worship her when they saw her. She not wanted any to be above her as she wanted all below her. With her mirror of knowing she asked about her sister, the mirror told that she had become very powerful but not as powerful. She was the Latex Empress of all of the lost lands also known as the golden beauty. Her powers were object transmutation, Telekinesis, and Meta magic and her powerful items where the Staff of wealth, the Ring of Chrysopoeia, the Ring of change, the Ring of movement, and the Stone of life. The mirror showed Shellyana beautiful and clad in shiny gold latex with a shiny gold crown and staff upon a shiny gold throne in a vast hall made of gold and while lots and lots of shiny gold coins and items. Shimmerah asked the mirror who is the hottest one of all, the mirror said it is you my Shiny beautiful Shimmerah. But Shimmerah was not happy still and asked who has the most wealth? The mirror told her that as for the Staff of wealth it is Shellyana. Shimmerah looked into her crystal ball of seeing and could no longer see Shellyana, so with a time turn back spell she put upon the crystal ball she saw that the powerful sorceresses along with her former magic teacher Mistress Virella had put up a powerful spell shield to block her gaze. This made her unhappy so she got her Staff of dominance and teleported to the spell shield saying to herself, nothing will stop me from where I want to go and have in my world. She was going to use her Ring of the 4 Elements to take it down but when looking at it saw it was not an Elemental spell. So she used her Staff of dominance which gives her the power to walk through any spell shield, When of the other said she smiled knowing she was the most powerful.

  

Chapter 2 - The shiny sisters

 

The kinghts and giants Shimmerah walking towards the wards the palace of Shellyana. When the Kinghts came there found Shimmerah was cat-walking in a sexy way and was hovering with each step above the sand so her high heels would not sunk into the sand sand. Shimmerah did not fear them. A giant 30 feet tal came can with her telekinesis she pushed him a miles away. The knights week in lust she Shimmerahs beauty not knew what to say "Never seen a hottie as sexy as me before,' she said while a sexy cute smile and seductive pose. "I've just come to see my sister is all, you know the not as hot one. ... You know its rude to keep a latex lady waiting, especially one a pretty as me." So the kights took her to the gates and let her in.

 

Shimmerah tossed aside the magical grids with her powers some of the mages and witches walked with her into the royal room where Shellyana stood by. 'What are you doing here, you have your land across the sea." said Shellyana. Shimmerah walked pass Shellyana saying 'Come to see my little latex shiny sister is all." said Shimmerah who then sat on Shellyana's golden latex throne in a very dominant alluring pose. "thats not your throne!" said Mistress Celeste of the dark arts whos shadow grew bigger, then she had no shadow as Shimmerah cast it away with a girly giggle. Shimmerah seeing 3 rings of power on Shellyana's hand made her want them, Ring of Chrysopoeia this ring was initially used for gold transmutation but was later altered by Shellyana to transmute items into latex, Ring of change for Object Transformation: Beyond just latex or gold, it can allow for the alteration of an material to change into another. Looking at all the shiny gold which she knew had come from both the Staff of wealth and Ring of Chrysopoeia she made her feel very greedy. But she knew she was soo sexy that even these latex ladys along with her sister where attractived to her alluring beauty. With her pretty voice she said to Shellyana, "Maybe as you've not seen me for such a long time, what about a gift." Mistress Celeste looked to the floor. "Like what?" said Shellyana. 'Your rings of power?" said Shimmerah. She looked to them and her sexy sister on the throne saying nothing. Shimmerah summoned the Goblet of youth and within it filled with liquid youth. They all knew what she had knew each drop she drank made her 10 times more beautifuly perfect and every way. Shimmerah grin and then drank a bit. 'No don't!" said Mistress Virella, using a powerful wind to try and blow the goblet out of her hand, but Shimmerah stopped the wind while saying "but the heat of the desert made me thirsty" so Shimmerah drank more giggling. Shellyana looking away making it rain gold coins to try and block Shimmerah, but none hit her. She try to fill the gobet with gold but none went in as Shimmerah blocked them. Mistress Celeste now drowning in lust to Shimmerah cast a shadow spell where her shadow took up all the room to all was a black void. But Shimmerah become part of that void till she pulled a shadow being out of the darkness to pull Mistress Celeste out of the room. Then Shimmerah took the Staff of wealth from Shellyana and her crown which she put upon her head. She was now standing with the shadow gone telling them all to bow to her as there empress. Her staff transformed into a shiny black latex whip as she whipped Shellyana saying to where the stone of seeing was, but Shellyana and the others not knew where it was. She got Shellyana to give her the rings of power and told them that the lost lands are now hers to rule. She then took the power out of the Staff of wealth and added that power to her Staff of dominance. Then she made it rain gold making gold coins appear out of nothing as all the so now wanted was all hers for the taken. The others tryed getting out of the room as she was filling it up with her power and greed evily laughing as her eyes glowed with avarice.

 

All knew within the lost lands that all the most powerful beings of the realm where now nothing to Shimmerahs still growing power. Many saw you as a goddess ruling the two large land mass's of Dommalex, but many deemed she would not stop to all of Dommalex was under her controll. Shimmerah still wanted the stone of seeing inorder the rule over more worlds.

  

Chapter 3 - The ring of change

 

Now with the rings from her powerful sister Shellyana. Ring of Chrysopoeia, Ring of change, Ring of movement. She knew the ring of change had the power to change anything she wants into what ever material and compound she wants. Shellyana had changed the rules of the Ring of Chrysopoeia with the ring of change to not turn all she touches into gold but into shiny glossy latex. Shimmerah now where the rings along with her Ring of the 4 Elements she got from Gemrock when she took the throne from King Rockhard 4 years ago. Now back in her dark crystal palace within the now barren Wealthold city where Shimmerah had rased up magical crystals from deep below the ground to channel her power. Many of the people of Wealthold city have now moved one to other towns within Gonzzal and to other lands. The only ones who stayed where Shimmerahs royal knights and loyal slaves who wished to worship her and do her bidding. No plants grew there as the crystals sucked in all power.

 

Within her palace was mostly all black shiny latex. Her black shiny Inflatable throne was of pure latex. She had always been very provocative sexually arousing all her look upon her. She not let the knight have sex with her, but she would play with all kinds of sex toys making it loud and clear that the only one who turn her on was her sexy shiny self. She know she could get away with anything and do and have all and what ever she wanted. With her ring of change she now crafted and transforms her latex dildo into any shape she could think of. Some smooth and thick, some bumpy and some with floppy rubbery lobes on them. She made vibrators, clitoral stimulators, anal toys, and dual-stimulation toys. She made them move within her from her telekinesis. Her knights stood by the doorway of her royal hall watching there stunning shiny latex beauty in her enjoyment.

 

After her 8 hour long pleasure time having waves of orgasms over and over. she went out of her palace and with her ring of change transformed the ruins of Wealthold city into shiny black latex forming towers which she made part of her palace and then raised up more magical red crystals to support them.

  

Chapter 4 - the cave of greed

 

As Shimmerah could not find the stone of seeing as she had looked for it with all her magic. She know about the cave of greed and knew she could only have one wish, if she stayed within the cave she could have as many wishes as she wants but then could never leave the cave. Shimmerah knew the gods and goddess's made it that none and no powerful spell could get to the cave, unless you went on a sail boat alone with two glossy compass-eels, as these magic eels where the only ones which knew the way. So She unhappy about the idea telported to Poilshvil town in Wallfort and took somes boat. A few people of Poilshvil town Saw what the Latex Empress was doing knowing where she was going. Many deemed her greed would have her trapped within the cave for all time. When some feard that if she only took one wish what would it be.

 

The eels pulled her boat within a powerful storm which she could not stop knowing if she did the eels would let go and swim away. She got the the island and jumped into the sea and made her way onto a shiny gold beach made of shiny gold coins and crystals. She want them all. When finding the caveof greed Shimmerah entered into with the wish to rule all, possess everything, be all-powerful, perfectly beautiful, and universally worshipped. She was aware of the goddess within and the rules of the cave, specifically seeking to avoid eternal entrapment while pursuing her goals.

 

Upon entering, Shimmerah found all of made of shiny gold and gold itrms. Within the cave had other caves some filled with endless world of glowing crystals. One cave she found its was all shiny black latex and there she saw Queen Sliverleaf who went missing 13 years ago. Sliverleaf was known for her greedy love of latex being known the queen of rubber, and her greedy never ending lust for sex also being called the queen of lust. within this part of the cave being made of shiny black latex, surrounded by black latex and gold, Sliverleaf embodying and moaning in lust with glowing pink eyes and seemingly experiencing never-ending sexual pleasure and ecstasy. Shimmerah, however, did not desire endless sex but sought power, beauty, and universal rule.

 

Shimmerah called upon Goldglossin who at 1st did not come knowing what Shimmerah wanted and not wanting to give it her. Then Shimmerah said if I don't get what I want, I will take away your lust demoness. Then Goldglossin came as a shiny golden latex teen girl. Shimmerah then saw it started the rain gold and she was within another part of the cave. She found there was 10 caves within the cave of greed.

 

Shimmerah wished for the stone of seeing and left the cave of greed. This made Goldglossin very unhappy as she had the power to grant the wish to an item she had longed for, the same item she tried to get that trapped her within the cave of Greed 10.000 years ago. Shimmerah knowing this did a sassy lustful pose with and evil smile to Goldglossin before catwalking away evilly giggling.

  

Chapter 5 - The stone of seeing

 

Shimmer being the most powerful sorceress knew all about The Stone of Seeing and of its power. She knew it was created by Latexshinex, the Goddess of Power, for Aeon, the God of Time. Its primary function was to allow its wielder to perceive events across different timelines and dimensions, offering a comprehensive view of past, present, and potential future occurrences. Aeon's ability to manage and manipulate time, providing him with the necessary insight to understand the intricate of causality. The Stone of Seeing is not merely a scrying tool; it is an extension of Aeon's divine capabilities, enabling him to observe the multiverse. Its creation by Latexshinex underscores her immense power as a creator and her collaborative relationship with other deities. Shimmerah not knew about the multiverse only of the universe but not what of its size. She knew about Latexshinex, Aeon and the others deities which where worshipped within her world.

 

She not knew how to use the stone of seeing as there was no info within her books on its use, only of its history and power. She teleported to Toweron where she set her sights on a significant spiritual magical site: the tower of Starsun. Starsun was revered as the god of the cosmos and gateways. Before Shimmerah took over the land when she was 26, the towers of Toweron held powerful spirit stones that amplified Evocation magic. At that time 3 years ago she enslaved the monks worshipping there declaring that they should only worship her. This cemented her religious and spiritual control but also allowed her to confiscate all the spirit stones.

 

Present day: When she teleported to Toweron There were still monks in worship. The monks who meet her 3 years ago where still in worship to her beauty, but the ones who had not seen her where still in worship to Starsun. The skys like they had always been were still open to the view and power of the cosmos. The monks no longer had their spirit stones, but there was still high levels of magic around. Shimmerah psychically read the minds of all to see who knew about the stone of seeing. Only a small few know. She asked them of how to use it but they not knew, This made Shimmerah angry. When she was done asking she turned them into Shiny gold statue's. Many feared being turned to gold and also feared what power the stone of seeing would give her.

 

A being hooded in dark-purple and black came with a twisted black stuff and wand. He was the uncrowned king Eldrin of Hexonu who had escaped from Shimmerah's dark crystal palace dungeons in Wealthold City not long ago. Shimmerah knew of his escape and read his mind knowing where he had been and who he had meet. "Seems I'm for too sexy is why you’ve come back to me." Said Shimmerah grinning. Eldrin was in-love with her beauty like all who saw her was. "I have not come for you" said Eldrin trying with all his might to fight his over-flowing lust for her. "I've come for the stone as it should not even be in this world" said Eldrin on the floor with something growing within his pants. Shimmerah gigged knowing her sexyness had turned him on so much that he could not get up. She was about to cast him into a void when Eldrin slowed time and moved with speed, So Shimmerah used a time spells to turned back time and took his staff and wand. She turn Eldrin into gold while saying "Everythings better when its smooth and shiny."

 

She then Summoning Mistress Luna who was confuse to where she was but then looked up to Shimmerah. Mistress Luna had a crush on Shimmerah for many years and she knew about the stone of seeing. Luna had wanted Shimmerah to become the ruler of everything as Luna was also known as latex-Luna having a big latex fetish. Within she knew she was as lustful as the trapped queen Sliverleaf. Luna was one of the spy’s of Shimmerah and one of the Mistress’s of Hexonu. She was the youngest of the magical Mistress’s but she was sly and all deemed she was helping to try and stop Shimmerah. For this she knew that Shimmerah would like her. Luna bowed low in worship to show her loyalty. 'Get up slave' said Shimmerah to Luna, 'Yes, .. yes my beautiful shininess' said Luna. 'I want the power of the stone of seeing' said Shimmerah 'You just need to hold it and it will flow into her my prettiness, ... but the power is said to be too much for any being other then the ones who made it.' 'nothing is too much for me' said Shimmerah 'I just not want your perfectness to get hurt' said Luna bowing low again.

 

Shimmerah held the stone feeling it power flowing into her but after some time she had to stop. She opened a portal to her dark crystal palace in Wealthold City where she took Luna. There came into her magical hall, she drunk more Liquid youth. She had on the Ring of the 4 Elements. But she took a invulnerability potion which she knew would not last long as the more power you use the fast the potion ware’s off. Then she took hold the stone again. A very strong wind was felt as green mist of power came from the stone within her shiny latex gloved hand. Luna ran to hind behind her throne. The widows of her hall smashed and the cosmos was seen within the hall. Shimmerah evilly giggled as she could see all over her world without a seeing crystal ball. She could see into space and looked down onto her world, She could see a stars from afar and with her sight zoom in to see their planets, and look into the planet at the rulers and people who walked there. She zoomed out and looked at the galaxy she was in. Luna could also see the map of the cosmos as images of what she could see was being projected into the room. Shimmerah’s eyes where glowing with power. Till the stone turned to ash as all its power was now Shimmerah’s. Luna came out from behind the throne seeing Shimmerah’s eyes which glowed red to show her wickedness, and then her eyes want back to normal.

 

Chapter 6 - The ring of Blindsight

 

Latex Empress Shimmerah, at 29 years old, has achieved significant power and territorial control, primarily through her acquisition of Omniscience from the Stone of Seeing. This newfound ability allows her to perceive beyond her immediate world, granting her a comprehensive understanding of the fallen cities of the once 12 kingdoms she has conquered. Her dominion extends over the vast sandy lands of Terrubagron, which she seized from her younger sister, Latex Empress Shellyana.

 

Shimmerah's influence is further bolstered by her loyal follower, Mistress Luna, a latex sorceress from Hexonu. Luna, who possesses high intellect and mastery of cosmic and other forms of magic, was initially a spy for Shimmerah, gathering crucial information. Her devotion to Shimmerah evolved into a profound, lust-driven worship, making her a willing instrument in Shimmerah's ambitions. Shimmerah, being psychic, is aware of Luna's unwavering loyalty and trusts her implicitly. Shimmerah also possesses the Mirror of Knowing, an artifact that provides answers to any question, revealing locations and methods for acquisition, though it cannot directly retrieve items. Her personal abilities include teleportation and portal creation, limited to known or previously visited locations, a limitation now overcome by her Omniscience.

 

Shimmerah's base of operations is her dark crystal palace in Wealthold City, which continuously draws power from potent crystals. From this vantage point, her Omniscience allows her to survey vast distances. Having secured Terrubagron within the Lost Lands, she recognized the existence of two more territories: the Woodland of Elves and The land of Fortess Fortress ruled by Dwarfs. She then teleported to the Dwarf Fortress, a land Shellyana had conquered three years prior after a significant war. King Ore, the Dwarf King, had submitted to Shellyana, acknowledging her as Empress of the Lost Lands. Shellyana, in turn, allowed King Ore to retain his rule and, using her Staff of Wealth, Ring of Chrysopoeia, and Ring of Change, enriched the dwarf kingdom.

 

Upon Shimmerah's arrival at King Ore's palace, he was already aware of her widespread conquests across Dommalex and her overwhelming beauty and power. He recognized her most formidable ability: Lustful Temptation, amplified by the Liquid Youth, which enables her to enthrall others into submission through her beauty and voice. King Ore, anticipating his fate, Ore bowing low saying “yes my Empress all is yours.” The second Ore saw her his lust took him as he forgot his people and fell in worship to her beauty looking to her shiny perfect latex black and gold outfit. Her sultry sexy smooth voice and the sound of her high-heel boots as she catwalked in. She claimed his throne, declaring all thrones and lands as hers. Overwhelmed by lust upon seeing her, he forgot his people and succumbed to worship, captivated by her shiny black and gold latex outfit, sultry voice, and the sound of her high-heeled boots. Shimmerah then transformed the entire palace into shiny gold, and changing her outfit to more gold to show her power reiterating her claim of ownership. She subsequently teleported King Ore to the dungeons of her dark crystal palace in Wealthold City before departing. Knights who heard her goddess-like voice proclaiming her rule over the land were left in awe.

 

Next, Shimmerah change her outfit back to black and gold and teleported to the mines north of the now golden palace. She extracted all the gold, crystals, rubies, and rare gems from the mining caves, teleporting them away and causing the land above to collapse into the caves. Her journey continued to the Gold Plains, where she entered the Temple of the Unseen. This temple housed monks of dark and light who, unless accompanied by an unseen warrior, could not look upon non-monks. These monks possessed knowledge of both good and evil and guarded the Ring of Blindsight, which concealed their activities from higher beings. Some monks had been observing Fetishiah, the succubus of lust, and her wicked practice of luring lustful girls to the Cave of Greed. Despite Fetishiah's allure in her red latex outfits, the monks had never encountered a presence as captivating as Shimmerah. The Temple of the Unseen was, as its name suggests, hidden and unheard of, known to Shimmerah only through her Mirror of Knowing, as she wished to keep her ambitions secret from the six known deities. The monks were astonished by Shimmerah's appearance, and many were overcome with lust, finding her even more alluring than Fetishiah. Shimmerah, pleased by this validation of her superior allure, took the Ring of Blindsight and transformed the entire temple into shiny gold, making it visible to all, while she was now unseen to the 6 deities.

 

Chapter 7 - The dungeons

 

Now knowing the 6 deities could not see her she went back to her dark red crystal latex palcae tower and under was a dungeon where in the cells where all the old kings, queens and princess's where trapped. After seeing sliverleaf within the cave of greed lusting in high levels of sexual gratification withing pools of lust. Shimmerah had long loved latex and the pleasure it gave her having even her sex toys made of rubber. Shimmer knew about pink lust which would form when extreme levels of pleasure where present. She read that demons of lust make pink lust from the lust from the most lustful in pleasure. It's said when a demoness of lust comes so dose a pink fog called pink lust. The pink lust can come in the form of a mist or can flow as a liquid. if your around pink lust you will be forever lustful.

 

Shimmerah summoned gobins to work in the dungeon to craft her latex sex toys of all kinds. She then with her powers bound the kings in latex catsuit, gloved and hoods and made to stand in what ever pose Shimmerah wanted them to be in. Shen then transfromed the queens in to shiny rubberdolls covering them in black latex, catsuit, gloves, stockings, and face hood. She put some of the princess and queens in latex Vac-beds some as shiny rubberdolls, all covered in black latex in a BDSM way and bound with latex sex toys vibrating in the groins. Moans of sexual arousal filled the halls as they were kept horny but could not orgasum, But Shimmer could orgasum all she wanted. She told the gobins totest out her new toys on them 1st, She told the the queens and princess when they become as lustful as queen Silverleaf was when she ruled Latxrubbero then they can orgasum. She told the gobins to keep there for ever and when pink lust forms to bottle it as she wants it for her own fun and power. The gobins said only succubus drink pink-lust. To get that much sexaul pleasure then you may turn into a demon also. Shimmerah said to them, Shiny demon horns and tail would look hot on me, now get back to work." she telported out.

  

Chapter 8 - The forgotten queen

 

As Shimmerah had now taken over all of the lost land and the 12 kingdoms and queens having many powerful items to fuel her high level of powers the world was under her domination as She had always wished it to be. All that was left was a few islands which had no rulers. With the power of the stone of seeing she saw that Queen Shiny had returned from over world from a portal. Queen Shiny lived in Magicalu before Shimmerah was born. Shiny had a girlfriend named Glossy who Shiny made into a 2rd queen, but there where both cast from the land after they we’re found to of had a plan that was met with public disapproval. Princess Crystal Shiny’s daughter was left in the care of King Hardice. Shiny and Glossy lived in Hexonu and became powerful in the art of witch craft. Shimmerah knew that what she was crowned queen and age 17 that Shiny and Glossy went into an unknown portal and was not seen again.

 

Shimmerah turned her gaze to the Sky-tower of Magicalu which was now made of Shiny gold from Shimmerah’s power and not of ice crystals as it once was. She saw that Queen Shiny was sitting upon the throne alone in the royal hall of the now Golden Sky-tower. So Shimmerah teleported to the Magicalu and walked into the royal hall saying, “All thrones and crowns are mine and min e only, knee to me the only queen and ruler of all.” Queen Shiny age 75 but looked 25 due to aging spells sat in a royal-black latex skin-tight catsuit showing off her perfect body. She wore a royal-blue latex hooded long cape, and had shiny gold latex corset, bra, stockings and wore blue latex gloves. Shiny using a spell barrier said this is the land and home of my family and people.” Shimmerah giggled saying “What family? You and your girlfriend was unwanted and cast way to another kingdom, You not even got to see your daughter Crystal grow up, but I did and she had a daughter named Glacier who later on in her life had a daughter named Icestal, but don’t worry Icestal is fine as she now one of my slaves, along with all the other kings, queens, princes. And princess of the world.” Shimmer giggled evilly. Queen Shiny then said “If your all powerful and all knowing then why had you not taken over the temple of time? I’m sure The Unyielding Knights of the fort of time would fall in lust to your beauty, as around 3,500 years ago there fell to the beauty of Queen Shinenee of the crystal lands. With the power of time the god of time Aeon could become your slave.’ As Queen Shiny had given her a plan to rule over everything She let her stay upon her old throne for the time being. Shimmerah not knew why she had given her such an idea as the spell barrier was very powerful but this power was not coming from Queen Shiny.

 

When Shimmerah came to Fortress of Time in the south west of Latxrubbero the Unyielding Knights came but did not bow to her there stood in a line blocking her way. This ancient structure, dedicated to the god Aeon, was constructed 7,000 years prior and is believed to possess the power to manipulate time. The temple is strategically located on a jungle-less peninsula between Sea-weed Bay and Green-glow Bay, with high cliffs leading up to its highest point. The Unyielding Knights," who, 3,500 years prior, had been the royal knights of the northern crystal lands. After their service to Queen Shinenee, they cast a powerful spell upon themselves to remain impervious to the allure of any woman, dedicating themselves solely to guarding the Temple of Time. But as Shimmerah had for years been drinking liquid youth her allure was well beyond anyone. Even with the magic cast upon the kights Shimmerah could feel there lust for her. The knights Tried to look away from the shiny sexy beauty who stood in such a stunning pose before them in her skin-tight latex outfit glimmering in the light. She told them “how dare you look away from me” the one who looked away turned to dust. Then a light from the heavens came forth saying “Time is the power of me, and Your time her is done. I am Aeon and I am time it’s self, you not have the time to understand its power.” A cosmic hand was seen in the sky which was now night Aeon took the power from the stone of seeing then cast Shimmerah into another realm far beyond her own.

 

Chapter 9 - A new world

 

Shimmerah, a powerful sorceress and former ruler of Dommalex, found herself unexpectedly transported to a new world known as Neonlexia. This transition occurred after the god of time, Aeon, cast her out of Dommalex due to her perceived evil reign as a "latex empress.

 

Upon her arrival in Neonlexia, Shimmerah retained her distinctive appearance, clad in a shiny black latex outfit, including a catsuit, corset, thigh-high boots, and gloves. She immediately noticed the stark contrast of her new surroundings: a tall, science-fiction-inspired city, aptly named White-light City, illuminated by LED and neon white lights. This environment further accentuated the shininess of her attire. The inhabitants of White-light City were captivated by her beauty, with Shimmerah perceiving their reactions as lustful admiration, noting she was the sole "latex lady" present.

 

A significant change for Shimmerah in Neonlexia was the loss of her Staff of Dominance and her powers of Omniscience. Despite these losses, she still possessed a formidable array of magical abilities. Her initial interaction with a local, a shop lady named Lacey, revealed that magic and sorceresses had been absent from Neonlexia for approximately 2,000 years, with any mention of magic relegated to a temple on the other side of the planet. Shimmerah, unfamiliar with the concept of "cosplay," learned her new location was White-light City within Neonlexia.

 

Undeterred by her altered circumstances, Shimmerah quickly adapted. She used her remaining magical powers to amass wealth and establish a grand residence in White-light City. Within her new home, she cast a spell to transform its interior with shiny latex and gold, indulging in the creation of numerous latex clothing items and sex toys for her personal enjoyment. She also recognized that while she could no longer access "liquid-youth," her inherent beauty ensured she remained the "fairest in all of Neonlexia as well as Dommalex.

 

Shimmerah's ambitions remained undiminished. She recalled a brief glimpse into Aeon's mind before her banishment, understanding that Aeon viewed her as a malevolent ruler. This insight also revealed Aeon's fear of her and the potential for Shimmerah to rule over the six gods and goddesses of Dommalex. Furthermore, Shimmerah deduced that Aeon had not killed her because her wickedness destined her for hell, an outcome she saw as an opportunity to claim the "throne of hell." This prospect, combined with the idea of ruling both heaven and hell, brought a smile to her face. Her immediate goals were clear: conquer Neonlexia and then find a way to return to Dommalex.

  

Chapter 10 The Lost fogotton queen of Neonlexia

 

In the narrative, Shimmerah finds herself in Neonlexia, a world where magic has been absent for approximately 2,000 years. Neonlexia is a technologically advanced society maintained by "peace-bots" and controlled by a "tall cyborg tower" that uses advanced technology waves to "brain-wash the city" and limit its inhabitants' knowledge. Shimmerah's presence in Neonlexia is attributed to Aeon, who allegedly sent her there to trap her and prevent her evil deeds, making it difficult for her to return to Dommalex.

 

During her time in Neonlexia, Shimmerah learns about a "lost queen" through a taxi driver named Hugo and further details from Gastson, the leader of Outback City, a less brain-washed area. This forgotten queen is described as having "long jet black hair" and wearing "full shiny red latex clothing," possessing powers "beyond the monks," and being considered the most beautiful woman ever. There are temples where male monks reside, forbidden to look upon any woman except this lost queen, and a second temple of witches who worship her. Gastson believes Shimmerah might be this lost queen due to her beauty and wishes to help her return home. However, Shimmerah, driven by her narcissistic personality, sees this as an opportunity to seize the throne and crown for herself, believing she is even more beautiful than the lost queen.

 

She still had the Ring of Blindsight from the Temple of the Unseen, which made her unseen to the six deities so she knew what ever she was to do that Aeon could not see her. Shimmerah hot Hugo to take her to the temple of witches which was a hugh worn green emerald palace she wore a full red latex outfit, catsuit, corset, gloves and boots. She cat-walked into the temple to find latex ladys within. Magical things where within. The ladys when seeing her asked who she was Shimmerah told them she was the latex queen named Shimmerah. A latex lady camed to her name Lunanaia and told that there was a lady long ago who worshipped the latex queen, This queen took over all the world and wanted more. A powerful witch named Luna worshipped her and one day The latex queen was taken buy one of the powerful deities. After the world was taken by another evil pretty queen and then the rule of powerful latex girls was put to an end and magic was not alound. The world had moved on alot from then, but we kept the magic going in the name what who we call the shiny beauty. We know the shiny beauty was evil but we loving latex and loving her wished to look upon her again. The monks wish to trap the shiny beauty as there have advanced technology, they made the peace-bots so the people of the world would forget the shiny beauty to stop her evil from ever coming back. The monks long ago where known as the Unyielding Knights who looked after the temple of time which had now been removed and put into the city of the deities. The temple was removed 2,000 years ago 500 years after the shiny beauty was taken. Powerful ghosty being told it was at this time the cave of greed was also removed but where to is unknown. Shimmerah now found that Neonlexia was Dommalex but had been renamed, and that Aeon the god of time had not put her on an other planet but moved her 2,500 years into the future, and the witches where from the treeline of the magical Mistress from Hexonu. Lunanaia also told that of the advanced technology of the monks that there have is Mass Manipulation powers to change the size and space of things and the powers of gateways, and the waves they send out to make you forget.

 

Shimmerah still possesses the Ring of Blindsight from the Temple of the Unseen, which renders her invisible to the six deities, including Aeon, the god of time. This artifact is crucial to her ability to act without divine interference. She sought out the temple of witches, described as a "huge worn green emerald palace," dressed in a full red latex outfit. Upon entering, she encountered other "latex ladies" and declared herself the "latex queen named Shimmerah"

 

A witch named Lunanaia revealed to Shimmerah a significant historical account. Long ago, a "latex queen" who was worshipped by a powerful witch named Luna, took over the world and desired more power. This original latex queen was eventually captured by one of the powerful deities. Following her capture, another "evil pretty queen" seized control, leading to the end of the powerful latex girls' rule and the prohibition of magic. Despite this, a group of witches continued to practice magic in the name of what they called the "shiny beauty," acknowledging her evil nature but wishing for her return due to their love for latex.

 

The narrative further reveals that the monks, formerly known as the Unyielding Knights, possess advanced technology. They created "peace-bots" to make the world's population forget the "shiny beauty" and prevent her evil from resurfacing. These monks also have "Mass Manipulation powers" to alter the size and space of objects, control gateways, and emit waves that induce forgetfulness. The Unyielding Knights were once guardians of the Temple of Time, which was removed 2,000 years ago, 500 years after the "shiny beauty" was taken, and relocated to the city of the deities. A "ghosty being" also indicated that the Cave of Greed was removed around the same time, though its current location is unknown.

 

Shimmerah discovered that Neonlexia was a renamed Dommalex, and that Aeon, the god of time, had not transported her to another planet but rather moved her 2,500 years into the future. The witches she encountered are descendants from the treeline of the magical Mistress from Hexonu. This intricate backstory suggests a world where ancient magical conflicts, divine intervention, and advanced technological countermeasures are deeply intertwined, with Shimmerah now positioned within this complex historical and magical landscape.

  

Powers and Abilities

Shimmerah possesses a vast array of magical abilities, which she has cultivated and amplified over time:

 

1) Telekinesis: The ability to manipulate objects with her mind.

2) Teleportation: Instantaneous travel from one location to another.

3) Telepathy: The power to read and transmit thoughts.

4) Elemental Manipulation: Control over natural elements, enhanced by the Ring of the 4 Elements.

5) Weather Manipulation: The ability to control weather patterns.

6) Outfit Manipulation: The power to change or create clothing.

7) Intangibility: The ability to pass through solid objects.

8) Umbrakinesis: Manipulation of shadows and darkness, granted by the Ring of Shadows, allowing for stealth and offensive use.

9) Evocation Magic: The summoning of entities or forces.

10) Absorbing Magic: A powerful ability, learned from the Book of Forbidden Knowledge, allowing her to absorb magical energy and power from sources like crystals and entire lands. This power was instrumental in her conquest of the twelve kingdoms and queendoms, where she absorbed the power from all magic crystals in the Queendom of Glossu and subsequently from all lands, making kings and queens her slaves.

11) Lustful Temptation: Her most potent form of seduction, amplified by the Liquid Youth, allowing her to entice others into submission through her beauty and voice.

12) Object Transmutation

13) Meta magic

14) power to bring back the dead

15) Omniscience

16) Sorcery

  

More about Shimmerah

 

Name: Shimmerah

 

Her parents: Queen Veloria and King Zorath

 

Her sister: Shellyana

 

Her magic teacher: Mistress Virella

 

Birthplace: Wealthold city - Capital of Gonzzul

 

Her queendom: Gonzzul

 

Continent - The 12 kingdoms and queendoms - when Shimmerah took over it all she renamed it to Shimmerathia

 

Planet: Dommalex

 

Height : 5, 11

 

Age: 29

 

Hair colour: black

 

Eye colour: light blue - but glow with power

 

Favourite colours: Black

 

Sexually: autosexual

 

Libido: Medium - High

 

Personality: narcissistic, vanity, self centered, selfish, greedy, avarice, mean, very dominant, power-hungry, Sly, naughty, gold digger,

 

How she see's herself, pretty, sexy, hot, perfect, attractive lustful, beautifully alluring, seductress, divine, powerful, dominant, villainous sexy girl, naughty, provocative.

 

Favourite fashion: Sexy shiny latex clothing, mostly black.

 

Favourite clothing, very dominant latex outfits, short-skirts, skin-tight catsuits, corsets, and thigh high boots

 

Wish in life: To rule all have all, to be all powerful, and all beautiful, perfectly stunning in everyway,

 

Obsessions: World domination, higher beauty, and all power.

I like abstract art, and I like "outsider" art, and here we have elements of both (although most would take issue with the "art" part of that). It's a common motif for graffiti painters, but this is an extension, so to speak, in a different direction. Apparently the guy with the spray can felt that the abstraction may have masked his intent, so he was thoughtful enough to provide an explanation.

Our disabled daughter, Christina Nichole, was physically and mentally abused by a doctor and police officer at the Gray's Harbor County Hospital in Aberdeen WA last Thursday, March 11, 2010, while she was there after being transported by ambulance to seek care for a 10-day severe headache and nearly continuous epileptic seizures. She just spent a week in Harborview Hospital receiving her 3rd brain study and medicine change by Dr. Wilensky throughout her life so far, which again diagnosed the many types of seizures she has. Dr. Wilensky's staff had advised her to call 911 to go to the ER, which she did. She was instructed to have the ER doctor call them, with a number they gave Christina, and to make arrangements to have her flown to Harborview, if needed. The ER doctor apparently did not like that, and told Christina to leave, without any work-up or care. Christina requested a different doctor and a patient's advocate. In response the non-caring doctor called the police to have her removed from the ER. The policeman told her to get out of the bed, and she tried to cooperate, but went into a seizure, falling back on the bed. The policeman grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the bed. In the process he damaged her shoulder and neck, and caused her to land on her feet which have both been recently operated on 3 times and are still trying to heal correctly. Her feet were hurt and damaged and she screamed in pain from the abusive, sedistic, arm pulling which resulted in trauma to the arm, shoulder, and neck, as well as her feet. Then she felt nauseaous and reached toward to the wall dispenser for a vomit bag and the policeman forcefully hit her other arm with his fist, not allowing her to get the bag. She again screamed from the new pain of her other arm being hit so hard. She kept falling down because she was still very much disoriented, confused, and unstable from her seizure(s) and the relentless headache, which had been diagnosed a few days earlier when she was taken by ambulance to the same ER for the same reasons, by had a caring doctor who treated her correctly, even though failing to follow standard procedures of care and testing by not taking a cat scan, blood work, or UA, which her family doctor, local neurologist, and Harborview Epilepsy Center had requested when advising her to go to the emergency room, four days in a row while my husband and I were in Seattle where I had surgery at Swedish Hospital leaving home on Monday and returning Thursday night. The policeman continued man-handling her limp body and threw her into a wheelchair without leg and foot rests. He told her to pick up her feet because they were dragging under the wheelchair backwards, but she had no body control to be able to follow his orders. He said she could let her feet drag behind her under the wheelchair because he did not care. He called her a baby and told her act her age when she cried and was terrorized. Her records show clearly that she was in a coma in 2004, declared brain dead, somehow came back but lost 20 years of memory and has daily short-term memory loss and multiple kinds of seizures, including life-threatening grandmal seizures. She looks like a 37 year old woman, but is very much like a 12 year old child when put in stressful situations. She was terrified, feared for her life, and could not understand anything clearly. The officer told her to leave the hospital, go out into the cold, rainy night, with no transportation. She asked to call her parents but could not understand how to operate the pay phone or remember our cell phone numbers. The policeman told her that no one wanted to talk to her so she was on her own and if she did not leave the hospital he was going to arrest her. She somehow left a message on our home phone. As soon as my husband heard the message he called the hospital and told them to keep her there and safe until he could drive the 25 miles to get there. During the wait the policeman intimidated Christina by standing behind her, jingling coins and keys, and threatening her to leave immediately or be arrested. When my husband arrived the policeman attempted to intimidate him by puffing himself up and threatening to arrest them both if they did not leave immediately. My husband took out his notebook and began collecting names and titles. He spoke with the head nurse. When finished he took Christina to our car and brought her home. She was emotionally damaged as much as she was physically damaged, and the brain swelling, headache, and seizures were not treated. The next morning deep bruise marks were showing on both arms and both feet. Her shoulder and neck were in tremendous pain. Her entire body hurt from the abuse, mishandling, torture, and trauma she had experienced. My husband drove her to Olympia WA, to the Capital Mall Hospital emergency room where she received kind and caring evaluation of all her injuries. The staff consulted with the doctor at Harborview Epilepsy Center and they determined an appropriate course of treatment. It was determined that she did not have to be airlifted to Harborview with this treatment plan being provided in this ER. X-rays and a Cat Scan were taken of her brain, arms, and feet. A suspicious spot was found on the Cat Scan that may explain why she was having so many seizures, headache, and brain swelling. It needs to be further evaluated, which she has an appointment with her Neurologist to do. The injuries inflicted by the policeman are severe, but no bones were broken. The bruising is massive and was documented with photographs and medical records by us and the Olympia ER staff. On Saturday my husband took Christina to the local Westport Fire Station to meet with the ambulance crew. Christina is well-known in Westport and everyone on the ambulance crews knows her medical history and has taken care of her dozens of times since we moved here after her coma. They call her their 'miracle girl' and always tell her how much they enjoy her and her always cooperative and happy nature, regardless of how much pain or distress she may be in at any time. The ambulance crew was devastated to learn that Christina was abused by the doctor, nurses, aids, and policeman at the emergency room they took her to on Thursday evening. They documented everything and reported the situation to the local city police department. The Westport police came and was equally upset. He took statements and then called a County Sheriff to the fire station. The Sheriff also took statements and made a report. On Monday (today), 3/15/2010, Christina was seen and evaluated by her family physician, Dr. Jackson, her foot surgeon, Dr. Tronvig, and her Chiropractor, Dr. Failor. They are all shocked and disgusted at what they saw. They all know Christina to be a sweet, trusting, loving child who has survived unimaginable odds and is always happy and thankful. Like us, they cannot fathom how this horrible abuse, neglect, and trauma could have happened to her. Why would anyone want to hurt her this way? Tomorrow she has an appointment to see Dr. Miller, her local Neurologist in Aberdeen. He will do his evaluation of the damages and follow-up on her seizure and headache conditions. He will determine if she needs to begin phychological counseling, either as an out-patient or as an in-patient, because Christina is so severely traumatized now. Coming out of the coma knowing that her doctors fought with us to try to get us to sign papers to allow them to euthanize her and harvest anything viable when she was in her locked-in coma, hearing everything but unable to respond was bad enough, but this added to that is simply too much. She has an appointment to see Dr. Wilensky at Harborview Epileptic Center on March 26, 2010 for further evaluation. I want to stress that Christina was following her doctor's orders to call the ambulance each time she went to the ER while my husband and I were away. Her doctors called her each day, several times a day, to ask how she was doing and to supervise her care while she was home alone. At no time was she seeking 'drugs', as the ER doctor flattly told her and labeled her. At no time did she resist the officer or do anything to warrent him putting his hands on her or drag her feet under the wheelchair. Dr. Wilensky called a prescription of pain pills into the pharmacy for her on Friday to take for her head pain, but she declined to pick up the prescription because she does not like to take pain pills as they make her very sick to her stomach and alter her thinking and feelings. She may take what is prescribed to her at an ER for pain while she is there, but does not want to take it at home. Her foot doctor says that her feet will heal, but her foot surgery recovery has been set back by at least another two weeks due to the damages the officer caused her. The bruises will eventually heal and the pain from them will fade away with time. Her shoulder and neck injuries will heal with the care of the Chiropractor. But Christina's trust in the emergency room at Aberdeen and the police there has been shattered and can never be repaired. The Westport ambulance crew said that they will take her to Willapa Hospital ER from now on, which is about twice the distance, but they no longer trust the Gray's Harbor Hospital ER to take appropriate care of Christina again. When my husband or I take her to an ER, we will make the long drive to Olympia and never let her out of our sight for even a minute. We retained an attorney today to handle this case against the Gray's Harbor Hospital and staff and the Aberdeen Police Dept. and officer. What amazing timing. We are scheduled to give our first depositions this week in Seattle in our lawsuit against Eli Lilly who makes Zyprexa, which put Christina into her coma in 2004. Attached are some photos of Christina's bruises taken on Saturday. If you haven't read the story of her coma yet, you can find it at: pekingeseshihtzu.wordpress.com/christina-nichole%e2%80%99...

 

Six screen moving image installation where you physically follow the character through the separate layers of his identity. Even the Layers they may want to keep behind closed doors.

Each screen highlights a certain aspect of the protagonist’s identity; this will take an informed and critical look at relationships, hobbies, work ethic and lifestyle choices. The narrative is within one day and loops, there is a twist and this will be interpreted differently depending where you join the narrative.

Each screen is divided by doors which you must walk through to follow the character around the room, these are symbolic of the barriers we put between different parts of our identity, for instance the way we may act with a partner i.e boyfriend/girlfriend may be different to the way we act with mates and there is a distinction In this. The Image plays on a loop so it is possible to join any screen at anytime, whether you want to view each layer is your choice and it this which will shape how you view the character.

The installation is more about the experience and the retrospect it is trying to inspire.

The installation takes a post-modernist stance on identity highlighting and empathizing how we change ourselves to fit into different parts of our lives.

‘All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts’

(William Shakespeare, All the worlds a stage)

Identity can be thought of as shaped by environment, it is this concept that the installation is attempting to convey. Hopefully it will bring the audience/viewers closer to looking at how they act differently in their own lives around the diverse social groups that we mix in. Another example would be the distinction between how we act towards parents and how we act towards friends.

I am house-sitting a menagerie in a suburb of Brisbane. The family is off on holiday for three weeks leaving me and some others to look after everything. I’ve retired to the pub to collect my thoughts (I should really have collected my bags as well whilst I was at it) ...

Christ, what a family I’ve just landed myself with! Both kids, Lucy and David, have high functioning Asperger’s syndrome. The mother, Svetlana, must be close because her mother, the granny, is extreme Asperger’s and might phone us over the next three weeks even though she’s been told not to because the family are going away. Something to look forward to.

One of their dogs has a dodgy stomach and is liable to pool the floor with diarrhoea, another has brittle bone disease and is suffering from a nutritional disorder (they think it might be a ‘special needs’ dog), another has epilepsy for which it needs valium (or ‘if it looks like she’s going into a coma zen call a taxi and take her to ze vets’). The fourth dog just continuously humps one of the others. I’ll have what he’s on, please. I’ll look at his fodder when I get back.

My ‘bedroom’ is a respite centre for one of their treasured cats (they have umpteen) and her kitten and they stay in my room overnight. Consequently it smells like a cathouse. Also, I was told, I might ‘like to put zem in zer cages at night because zey like to sleep on Lucy’s head. Zis is her room.’ What an attractive proposition. Something else to look forward to. Oh what fun.

My room consists of a camp-bed with a mattress thinner than a Pizza Hut pizza. And that’s it. Apart from the cat cages. Oh, and did I mention the smell? The girl (11) not only suffers from Asperger’s but she has a dust allergy and so furniture is kept to a minimum (and yet the house is as dusty as the outback). The cats, apparently, have been bred to be non-allergenic (is that even possible?) so they don’t contribute to the distress. Not that their contribution would make a blind bit of difference anyway.

 

Svetlana very kindly asked me if I needed blankets and I said that I didn’t know how cold it got and whether or not the one on my ‘bed’ would be enough. She said, ‘Ah, zat isn’t a blanket, it’s a cover for ze underneath.’ So, I thought, I have no mattress, no sheets or blankets ... Lovely. ‘Do you not haf a bag for sleeping?’ ‘Yes, but it’s very thin.’ (I was trying not to scream at this point.) ‘We could buy you a blanket if you like, Allan’s just going to the shops now?’ God, do they not even have spare blankets in this fucking house??? ‘A big, thick blanket?’ ‘Yes, Ok, that might be good,’ I said weakly. She demonstrated how thick ‘thick’ was and it looked adequate but I doubt very much it will live up to expectations.

 

The house is surrounded by high fences and it was ten minutes before they realised someone, i.e. me, had called and obligingly opened up the house to me (a simple thing like a bell is not allowed because it sends the dogs off on one, she explained later). This also happened to Bridget and Arthur (fellow house-sitters, from Stoke) so it wasn’t just me they were ignoring. The front yard smells of dog shite and heated urine.

We were told about the animals: 4 dogs (various sizes), two cockatoos (villainous), two parakeets (utterly vile), two wonderful parrots (an Eclectus from the Amazon, and an African Grey), 6 water dragons (senseless), 2 Pekin ducks, 2 chestnut ducks, 2 whistling ducks, 4 mandarin ducks (they like ducks by the way – but they don’t eat the eggs), a diamond dove, one budgie (its mate had just died), two quails (again no-one eats the eggs which is a disgraceful waste!), a terrapin, several mice (for bait), 3 pythons (one deadly), 6 cats, and a fluctuating number of guinea pigs.

The family (well, lovely, sentient Svetlana anyway) is breaking any number of Oz laws (she told us this herself!): for instance, they’re feeding live mice to the snakes (not allowed in Oz), and they have more than two dogs (the extra two need dispensation from the authorities it seems), and none of the hounds are registered.

We were given a tour of the house by mein hosts from Austria: ‘Ze AC SHOULD NOT BE USED because it smokes. Only one of zem works anyway, except that it smokes. Don’t use it.’ And heating? It wasn’t mentioned even though this is deepest winter here.

The kitchen is spartan to say the least. They don’t have sharp knives because of the kids, they have few plates because they get broken (by the kids). There are NO sockets (and therefore no microwave, kettle or any useful piece of equipment) because of the kids. Also, there are no powerpoints in the bathroom (for razers) and no mirrors because ...

Deep sigh. Breath deeply.

I asked Svetlana if she’d built the (hideous) hippy wall outside the back (all rough stone and orange paint) and she said, ‘Yes, when we moved in there was just the ugly English brick there ...’ and Bridget said, ‘Ah, how to alienate three quarters of your house-sitters in one short sentence!’ She was joking but I couldn’t stop this little ditty from spinning around my head ... Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alis ... I just about stopped myself from whistling it. At least, I think I stopped myself.

  

The family of four (humans) all have their own unique eating requirements and so Svetlana doesn’t do ANY cooking and instead they appear to live off raw veg and fruit. Cooking is a bit difficult anyway because two of the four hobs on the cooker don’t work. Baking is also out because they don’t really know how to work the oven (but, to give them some credit, they’ve only been here for TWO years). When she does cook, Svetlana tends to forget what she’s doing and burns everything (as evidenced by the scorched pan that had been sitting in the basin for the last two days). I've taken to humming the theme to the ‘70s comedy, 'Butterflies'. Oh, if only the sainted Rea was here now ...

Today, Strange Svet managed to cook a bland but warm(ish) tomato-and-nothing spaghetti (well, actually Bridget ended up cooking it) for a mid-afternoon snack which was all we’d been offered in the 6 hours we’d been there. Actually, to be brutally honest, I’m exaggerating. I was offered mineral water an hour after I arrived. When I said, ‘Ooh, I could murder a coffee ...?’ they said that they didn’t drink coffee. I really should have seen that coming. But this was all we were going to be offered for the rest of our time at Cockatoo Avenue I think.

They use a ‘blunt knife’ for cutting up things. It’s German (naturally) which means that ‘it is a very good blunt knife, far better than Australian blunt knives that don’t verk after a veek.’ WHAT the FUCK is THAT all about? We watched her chop away at a sweet potato for the good part of ten minutes, sweating and cursing like a good ‘un under her breath, until finally she had cut the ends off and said, ‘Zer, you see?’ mopping her brow, ‘Now, zat’s a good knife!’

Perhaps understanding our reluctance not to have to spend the rest of our short lives cutting up vegetables, she condescended and said that we were allowed to buy our own sharp knife if we wanted to, once they had left for their hols. We could also buy a tea towel (because they don’t have one - there’s a shock - and the dishwasher doesn’t work), kettle, blankets or sleeping bag, food and anything else that the house may lack (which might cover a whole truck load of things).

They’re not going to leave us any food (‘After all, you are not really going to do much work, are you?’ Maybe not, but we’ll try to do it as efficiently as possible ... ) but I asked about basics like cooking oil and herbs. ‘You can use anything you find in this cupboard here,’ she said. It turned out that this was all the stuff left by other woofers and consisted of three lots of ground black pepper (good), some spray-on cooking oil (... OK ...), some vanillin salt (?), and loads of vinegar. No herbs. Some salt. And that’s it.

Then she said, ‘Ve af to put padlocks on all ze draws and ze fridge and sings, because of ze kids. They move sings and ve can’t find zem. Please don’t zink zat ze locks are zer because of you!! Ha ha.’

 

As if. There’s probably nothing in the cupboards anyway.

It’s going to take a lot of alcohol to get me through these next few weeks, I’m telling you. What a fucking disaster. Could be a real waste of three weeks of my life coming up. I don’t mind hardship or hard work, but I really don’t like cockroach crap all over the place, the smell of cats piss in my room and stale dog shite in the yard. I’m weird like that. How the hell can I get out of this? I can’t just leave because I have an obligation to help, but maybe they’ll ‘kick me out’ – I made a good stab at this strategy earlier when I inadvertently switched off their computer when I meant to switch off the TV. I might well have lost a lot of Allan’s important data. I can only hope. Not really.

I’m seriously considering making a complete shite of myself tonight just to get out of this. I know it’ll mean being blackballed from the woofers site but maybe, at this minute, I just don’t really give a damn. This place is not an organic site and should never have been allowed to be advertised on the Wwoof web bulletin board. It’s dirty and anal. And I’m already pissed off with it. Maybe I should act REALLY dumb tomorrow (not much acting involved actually) and pretend to give the Dragons/lizards the birds’ food and maybe feed the oh-so-expensive Electus Parrot to the pythons.

 

There are three others to help me, which, given the anal details of the welfare regime of the zoo, is just as well. However, I have a strong feeling that Bridget and Arthur (who have just upped-sticks and emigrated here) will bugger off as soon as they can. Even if they stay they will be looking for jobs and if they find one then that will mean at least one of them will be out of the picture. Jeeeeesus.

And Lyndsay, the blonde student nurse from Oz (it really isn’t half as good as it sounds, believe me), seems to be wanting to spend most of her time either working on her shifts at the hospital or going to lectures, so what good she’ll be I don’t know. We’ll have to work our schedules around hers and I can’t see many happy days off for me in Brissie coming up because how the hell will I be able to get away?

 

Bridget is lovely. A bit on the plump side but clever and inquisitive and funny and practical and has lovely big ... eyes that are of the deepest brown. Arthur, her husband / partner / boyfriend, is a little quieter and more circumspect (but just as dumpy. The make a good pair of Tweedles). I like them even though they’re in IT. They’ve recently moved over to Oz (having spent months in France and SE Asia) and are looking for jobs and a place to settle down hence their enthusiasm to take on this post because it gives them a cheap place and a space to explore.

Lyndsay is maybe a little younger than me (fantasies of student nurses don’t usually invoke late career-changers, and she is definitely no fantasy, not a good one anyway), a little plumper, a little more bottle blonde, and slightly more bruised by bottles. Apart from that it’s hard to tell what she’s like because she left early to go to an Open Day. I think she’s taking the piss, though, when she thinks she can spend as little time here working with us and the animals as she perhaps wants. But maybe I’m misjudging her**.

Allan, the father of the family, seems nice and normal. He meeted and greeted me and left me by the pool (did I mention there was a swimming pool?!) to wait until the others arrived, then he took us all on a tour of the house - the electrics, the pumps and the water system. I could also completely understand his accent, which was an immense relief.

 

Svetlana, his wife, on the other hand, is utterly unhinged and incomprehensible. I don’t know how long she’s been in Oz but I don’t think it’s significant; no matter how many years she lives here she will never lose her strong German accent. Or her loopy nature come to that. Nothing she said seemed to be in order even when she was demonstrating something, like, for example, how to prepare the Water Dragons’ food: ‘You don’t vant to get the maggots vet,’ she said as she ran them under the tap in a sieve, ‘and ven you grate the carrot, I don’t have any carrot, I’ll use spinach, I don’t usually use this much spinach but I use more carrot, but I don’t have any carrot, but I show you anyvay, but zis is not vat I normally do, but you don’t vant to do it like ze uzer woofers oo came before and killed my dogs ...’

 

And it went on like this for the next two hours. Good job Bridget was taking notes.

 

Then we were passed on to Lucy, the oldest child. Lucy told us in great detail how to feed and look after the animals. After two hours we had only covered the front garden’s cages and ponds – she likes to ensure clarity over every morsel of bits of information, bless her: ‘And this is how you open and close the door. You push up the bolt thingy and slide it this way. Then, to close, you push up the bolt and you slide it THIS way. Do you have that?’

To be honest, she might have got the impression that we were all idiots and that we needed this level of instruction after I’d tried to use the hose. Even after seeing her do it effortlessly for the last two hours I couldn’t get it to switch on when I had a go. I turned to her and said in desperation, ‘You haven’t switched this off at the tap, have you?’ hoping that she had, otherwise I’d look a complete tit. She hadn’t, of course. She took it from my hands, twisted it insouciantly and it came on, no problem. She explained patiently, ‘You have to twist it at the end, not further back. You twist it more and it becomes stronger. You twist it less and the water becomes weaker. OK?’ Yes miss. And so, despite my best efforts ... I looked a complete tit. Ah well, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose, as they say in Queensland.

Further instructions were given: we have to poop the dogs first1, clean the yard, and then feed them. The little dogs get the big dog food, and the big dogs get the little dog food (all from the drawer marked, ‘Dog Food’2). The little dogs get this amount of this type of dog food, the big dog called Luisa gets this mount of this dog food but Rex, the other big dog, gets this amount of this other type of dog food. The little dogs are fed in the bathroom (‘Remember to close the toilet door otherwise Beauty likes to pee beside the bowl. Not in it, but beside it.’), Luisa is fed in the yard, Rex is fed in her cage. We have to then let the dogs back into the house, two at a time, maybe three, and sometimes put them in cages but other times not.

We have to prep the birds’ food in a very precise way – no orange seeds, no apple seeds, just enough frozen veg, just enough mineral and Vit E supplement. The big birds get the little bird seed (but only in the evening), and the little birds get the big bird seed (but only once a day). We have to wash down the yard, water the plants, make sure that the snakes’ lights are switched off at night and then back on again in the morning. Make sure that the electrics are switched off at night (rats gnaw through the cables and the system is altogether not very safe – there have been many fires caused by the TV being left on overnight, we were reminded). And ve MUST NOT USE THE MAINS WATER! Only bore hole water. (Not even a ‘Sankyou’ for this.)

We have to prepare the Dragon’s food in a precise way (and remember that they only need to be fed every other day), and the ducks (not forgetting that the Pekins are treated differently from the Whistlings and the Mandarins (twice a day not once a day), and that you can feed the small ducks every other day but it’s best to feed them every day), and the biting Grouchers (or whatever they’re called), and the turtle ... And we hadn’t even got onto the cats yet.

If all this sounds confusing ... it was!

About the only things we don’t really need to bother too much about are the caged mice, and that’s because they have a very short life span as they’re fed directly to the snakes. Very gruesome, but guiltily fascinating. Oh, and the guinea pigs are expendable too. As we passed their cage, Allan said, ‘Ach, there’s a dead one. That’s a good job for you it died today and not tomorrow ...’ which was a bit sinister. All it needed was a wild, maniacal German laugh to complete the effect but, alas, he didn’t oblige.

 

Will we be sued if anything cops it whilst we’re on duty? Probably.

Bloody hell, what a place.

In spite of everything, there ARE redeeming features: the children are lovely (when they stop screaming or complaining that someone has sat in their seat and it needs cleaning NOW! But, no, they are really lovely and it is hard for them and the family). The TV’s really good (although they don’t have the Sports Channel). The dogs are really great – very friendly and beautiful. And the caged birds are wonderful – especially the Eclectus and the Grey parrots – really talkative (in a Svetlana (incomprehensible) kinda way) and beautiful. And the lizards are curious and stately in their own way. And I enjoyed feeding the live mouse to the python ....... no I didn’t.

Whilst the cockatoos are psychotic and attack you at every opportunity (whether there’s wire between the two of you or not), the parrots are loveable and fantastic mimics. I’m looking forward to teaching them the tune to the Great Escape as they already seem to know Colonel Bogey (but not the lyrics – that’s another project for the next three weeks). One disturbing thing about them, though, is that that they sometimes kick off with an almighty crying and mewing that sounds uncannily like a child in torment ... They are so cute; they crave attention and human contact. As soon as you enter their aviary, they frantically beak and claw along the chicken wire to get to your shoulder, then they nuzzle up to your ear and softly croon into it as if they were over-grown lovebirds. It’s quite erotic actually. No bird has done that to me for a long, long time.

So, having destroyed Allan’s data on his PC, and wanting some clean air I have made a quick exit out to Cleveland, a mile up the road, to have a quiet drink and eat something that’s edible and also vaguely tasty. The first restaurant I went to was exorbitantly expensive and I asked the waitress, because I was getting on quite well with her, if there were any others in the neighbourhood. She said there were a couple of cafes ... and a fish takeaway ... but, hmmm, not very much was open at this time of year and that was all. I thanked her and went in search of a bottle store (4 litres for 12 bucks – not bad!) where I asked again. The kind lady directed me to an area which was buzzing with life and food! So much for charming the local wenches into divulging insider information!

The Proclaimers are playing. Great nostalgia. Pictures of home and wild Scottish moors and bampots. I always think of the brothers Proclaimers as people who are slightly retarded, the kind of wimpy-looking boys who would stand up to the school bullies who are twice their height and with reputations of eating raw iron, and they would crane their heads back, push their glasses back onto their noses and look them straight into their eyes from two inches away and dare the bullies to touch them. The kind of boys you really didn’t want to cross because you never knew what they were really capable of doing. Scary people. True bampots. Real Scotland. Home.

I’m sure they’re quite nice really.

Students are now In The Building. In the land of the Drinking Game the Sensible Man goes to bed early (Lao Tze, 600 BC (Before Castlemaine XXXX)), whilst the Fool stays up thinking he can match them pint for pint. It is the Sensible Man who awakes the next morning feeling physically good but somehow empty of experience; whilst it is the Fool who awakens feeling like shit whirled in a Moulinex AND also empty because he can’t remember why the FUCK he did it, whatever the fuck IT was. This is why he is called The Fool.

There’s a message in there somewhere. I wonder if I can decipher it.

Finished now. Got through half the wine. Ready for a pint and a piss. Then head back to the madness ... oh for f’s sake.

*In hindsight, it turns out that I was dead right!

1. but not as early as 0500 when THEY begin Fuck that.

2. Any resemblance to Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard is purely intended. It’s that kind of house.

 

Part 2 of Engineering Perfection takes Rachel 2.0 to the extreme level. Deconstructing her to see just how she works. This was a blast to create both physically and in photoshop. 90% of what you see is real.

 

I had spent the better part of the afternoon with a dremal and a diamond tipped cement grinder. I had successfully removed her face and was ready for the next step. My house is computer crazy and we literally have nearly a dozen abandoned desktop computers laying around. I grabbed a few and started salvaging wires and tubes. It wasn't long before I had enough to start building her spine and central nervous system wires. I opted to remove all but red, yellow and black wires. I torched the ends to make it look as if I had literally pulled her head from her body. However, It's a little hard to see in the end due to the black background. The tubes were found in my garage and in my opinion were the final touch. I whipped up a batch of fake blood and setup in my room. With old sheet on the floor the blood was squirted into the tubes and Shawn held up a black sheet as a backdrop. I snapped away only stopping to refill the tubes.

 

Post production was simple as most of the work was done already. I changed one of the tubes red blood to blue. I painted her lips black, something in which I did with the airbrush in real life later. I darkened her eyes and added some red. The background was just me having fun with the pen and tablet. The font is called Cyborg and was downloaded for free from 1001freefonts.com I highly recommend taking a stroll over there and checking out the amazing selection of totally free fonts in both Mac and PC format. I didn't get paid to say that! But… if you all want to throw me a little something I'll accept.

 

This isn't the first time "Rachel" was featured. Way back when I was learning to light with strobes I used her as she didn't bitch moan or complain about me taking way too long to setup or shoot. On a serious note. I recommend using a half mannequin and a turn table or lazy susan to learn lighting with. You set it up on a stool and start with one light. You can rotate the mannequin and see the effects of different lighting positions without having to reset lighting.

 

In the end I was surprised that Cyborgs weren't as popular as I had hoped. Zombie's seem to be much cooler and thus I will stick with blood and gore from now on!

  

Lighting:

 

AB800 Beauty Dish boomed overhead 1/4 power

AB800 Med Softbox 9:00 Illuminating wires 1/16 power

Cyber Syncs

 

Want More?

 

Check out behind the scenes photos. | Find out where I'll be | Read the complete story

 

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Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Portsmouth-based 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, participate in a Spur Ride Aug. 11, 2021, at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Forty-eight Soldiers earned the right to wear distinctive cavalry spurs at ceremonial events after completing a two-day event testing their mental and physical endurance. The event provided a better understanding of reconnaissance operations, forged strong team bonds and built a stronger squadron with a sense of history, cohesion and purpose and demonstrating that they were physically fit, tactically sound, professional and keepers of the cavalry traditions. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Cotton Puryear)

"Whatever you are physically... male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy - all of that matters less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, then you are a warrior. All of those other things, they are a glass that contains a lamp. You are the light inside."

 

— Cassandra Clare

 

Copyright to all of the photographs displayed under the name 'djammz' a.k.a Amin Ahmed Kapadia are owned by me. You may not publish, sell, license or distribute, use on websites or blogs any of these photographs without written permission.

I started dieting April 15, 2012. Yes, I remember the day bc I glorified it for so many years. I started bc I didn’t physically feel well a lot of the time & I struggled with body image. We all know the cure for that: DIET & EXERCISE! Right?? I posted about my journey for “accountability” and got so much positive feedback. “You look amazing! You’re such an inspiration! Can you help me too?” I was so excited bc I hadn’t ever moved my body or honored it in anyway prior to that. Fueled by the results & positive reinforcement, I kept looking for better ways to diet and exercise for a few years. Then I found CrossFit, an entire global community of dieters & exercisers looking to do as much of both as possible. Perfect! For over 5 years I learned to micro-manage every seed I put into my mouth and sweat more than I ever had in my life. I was so proud to be a woman that was strong. And I still am. But things started to change eventually.

 

Every morning I’d wait until I pooped to weigh myself naked so that I would know the REAL number. What’s this?? How did my weight go up when I paid someone to tell me exactly how much to eat?! Must have been too much broccoli. I’ll pack food to bring to the pizza party. I’ll go “super clean” before the trip, party, event, etc. Everything I learned about, I tried. When information conflicted, I hedged my bets and restricted more of it. I wanted to be the gold standard and I wasn’t going to let anything mess that up. I even became Precision Nutrition “certified” because paying people to tell me what they learned in that one book - that apparently gave them the legal right to charge people to help them restrict food without any other credentials in nutrition or psychology - wasn’t working, so I opted to just become certified myself. And then the inevitable happened... it all stopped working. No matter what I did, who I paid, the results just stopped. My body began to bloat in ways I couldn’t anticipate, no matter what I added or eliminated. Physical discomfort I didn’t know how to stop. The stress of this sent me spiraling emotionally. The only logical explanation was that I was doing something wrong, that there was something I wasn’t doing, and that I wasn’t doing enough. My mind and time were consumed with how to control my body through food & exercise. Devastated when those around me succeeded with less perceived effort than me. I gave myself no leeway.

 

In May 2017 I was in the thick of this. I had been single for about a year and was ready to start dating again. I had been strict intermittent fasting, 8-10 hours of eating & 14-16 off, no matter what. I was asked on a date by someone I was actually really excited about. We had met a few years back working a wedding together and he was really cool. We made the date for a Wednesday night. I was coaching early on Wednesdays then, which meant I needed to start eating earlier in the day. 7-5 to be exact. I decided to do this even though I knew I was going out that night. NO EXCUSES!! Unfortunately the 2 drinks I had over the 4 hour date left me absolutely drunk and spinning.

We were having a fun evening up until that point.

I didn’t feel unsafe going back to his place to sober up.

I thought I could trust him.

I was tragically mistaken.

When I came to and stopped him I remember him trying to explain why it was ok that he was doing what he was doing. He really liked me and would be my boyfriend, he said. Date rape is a terrible and confusing thing to have happen to you. It took me over a week, walking around like a zombie, and a very concerned response from a friend when I told her the story, to really understand what happened to me. I broke ties with him immediately and tried to move on. I acknowledged the truth, felt what I needed to, and opted to learn from it. That year I only shot one wedding and it was out of state. I pulled up to the venue and I see him walking towards me. Out of all the videographers they could have possibly hired, they chose him. And I worked with him. I knew I had to. I could not go up to a bride on her wedding day, as she’s getting ready, and tell her I can’t do it. I learned a lot about my strength as a woman that day.

 

I think it’s important to understand that this happened to me at a time when I least expected it to. I was, and still am, at a point in my life where I consider myself to be a very happy person. I had become self-employed and was enjoying the successes of that. I didn’t view my dieting and exercising as anything bad at the time, and took a lot of pride in my discipline and knowledge. I was happy being single and very selective about who I went out with. I was confident I’d never put myself into a dangerous position again. I felt strong and empowered. It took me a long time to realize how my dieting/exercise routine had contributed to the events of that night. That guy is 100% responsible for his actions that night. It also breaks my heart to think about that version of myself that was so afraid to eat food. A version that weighed her options and chose to drink on an empty stomach and put her trust into her date’s hands.

 

My best friend got married in August 2019, and I was thrilled to be her Maid of Honor. A very special role with a lot of responsibilities and investments. I cleaned up my eating for months beforehand, and was exclusively strict for the month leading up to the big day. By the time the wedding day came, I was happy enough with my results. I was still struggling with my body image and not looking how I felt I should have with the amount of effort I put in. All that effort paired with the time and money invested into the wedding, I became terrified that if I ate any of the food at the wedding I would either A.) get sick because I knew how my body would react to foods I hadn’t been allowing myself to eat, and/or B.) bloat up and undo all the hard work I’d put in for months to look a certain way. So when everyone else was grabbing slices from the pizza food truck, or sampling the dessert options, I was eating cucumbers and hummus at my table. I wasn’t happy about it either. I felt sorry for myself and made up for it at the open bar. I had a great time at her wedding, but know now just how much more fun and enjoyment I could have shared on this most memorable of occasions.

 

The dangers of diet culture were completely unknown and unheard of in my life until I met my friend Iona. She and her partner run a movement based community in Boston, and I fell in love with them immediately. They used to be Crossfitters so I knew I would be understood there. She would talk a little bit about Crossfit and why she wasn’t doing it anymore and why she had stopped restricting food. Sounded good for her, but I couldn’t imagine not watching what I ate. But we’d keep chatting, and followed each other on social media so I was seeing the things she was sharing on the topic. Some things she shared didn’t sound like me at all. I had never been as great as she was and didn’t feel like our stories were the same. I had started a deep mediation practice at the beginning of 2019 that started to shake the foundation of my food & body beliefs. As I listened more to her story, and as I deepened my own personal awareness, I found myself deeply resonating with her. I was having a hard time putting uncomfortable feelings into words. She recommended two books to me: The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner, and Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole.

 

It has been a year since I read The Fuck It Diet, and it shook me down to my core. So much of what she was describing sounded just like everything I was feeling. I felt angry at an industry I was a loyal disciple of for years. I felt ashamed of all the preaching in it’s favor I had done over the years. I felt overwhelmed in realizing that all the work I had put into optimizing my body was actually doing the opposite. I knew without a doubt that this was what my body and soul needed. A release from the confinement of diet culture. So I purchased Intuitive Eating and the accompanying workbook, and spent the last year slowly chipping away at the 10 principles of IE. In TFID she mentions that it can take 3-6 months for people to heal from disordered eating, some more and some less. I figured I’d be done nice and quick. Nope. This shit is HARD. So hard. Especially when the world shuts down 1 month into your practice and turns your world upside-down. I suffered a lot during the quarantine, and I did it silently. I couldn’t share my pain, and didn’t know how to. But I kept at it. I knew I couldn’t give up on this, too much was on the line. I moved in with my boyfriend during the pandemic which threw in a whole new twist and added challenges. I started unfollowing influencers & nutrition pages by the dozen. I utilized a food delivery service to help me take the pressure off of thinking about food so much. I was sick of it. I reached out to Iona for support. And I kept at it, even when it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I kept at it. I knew my life depended on it.

 

Then some amazing things started to happen. I would put the pint of Ben & Jerry’s back in the fridge instead of eating it all at once. I could eat half my food at a restaurant and easily ask to bring the rest home. A package of cookies went stale in the cabinet because I just didn’t feel like eating them. I started buying new clothes that fit my body now, and even went as far as to go shopping when I felt most uncomfortable and bloated so I knew I could trust my clothes to truly bring me comfort. I can say no when I’m not hungry. I’m starting to be able to truly identify my hunger and fullness cues, and honor them. I’m starting to trust that my body knows what it’s doing and that it knows what size it wants to be. I can trust myself around food now because I know, without a doubt, that I can have it if I want to. Restriction is what leads to overeating, not the other way around. This, by far, has been the hardest but truest lesson I’ve learned in the decade I’ve spent educating myself on fitness and nutrition. I still have a lot of work to do, practice makes progress, and progress is never linear.

 

I have chosen to share this experience for a few reasons. First, the bravery of my friend sharing her vulnerable yet powerful healing experience inspired me to do the same for myself. This is the biggest hope for this project. We don’t get to choose who we influence, or how our influence is received. But we all have a story, and someone out there needs to hear YOUR story. Second, this has been one of the biggest personal items I have been working on recently and has caused a big upheaval in how I approach my life and my work. I pride myself on being openminded and allowing myself the grace to change my mind. Changing my mind on fitness and nutrition was not something I was expecting, and it is not what big diet culture wants us to believe. It is woven into our healthcare, media, and schools. Third, this is a topic I know millions of people, especially women, struggle with every single day. Fourth and final reason is the intersection of so many things in this experience. Self-worth, body image, sexism, science as a religion. Too much of what we think has been put there by someone else. My hope is that sharing my experience with diet culture, date rape, and orthorexia (eating disorder with the preoccupation with eating healthy food) that someone else will be inspired to free themselves from these cages and live life a little happier. Food CAN be neutral and our bodies do know what they’re doing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLSjZHshqj0

  

Our Love Is Easy - Melody Gardot

 

Memories

Hues

Touch

Senses

g

Montreal

The Golden Ratio in Dr. Elliot McGucken's Fine Art Ballet Photography!

 

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

facebook.com/fineartballet

 

Dr. E's: Golden Number Ratio Principle--Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after, thusly providing symmetry over not only space but time, and exalting life’s foundational dynamic symmetry. Robust, ordered, symmetric growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in the arrangement of nature’s discrete elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which they and all their vital sustenance, as well as all the flowers and nature’s epic beauty, had been created—the golden ratio.

 

Fine Art Ballet Photography: Nikon D810 Elliot McGucken Fine Art Ballerina Dancer Dancing Classical Ballet Seascape Landscape Photography!

 

Fine Art Ballet Photography: Nikon D810 Elliot McGucken Fine Art Ballerina Dancer Dancing Classical Ballet Seascape Landscape Photography!

 

White leotard and flowy dress!

 

Dancing for Dynamic Dimensions Theory dx4/dt=ic: The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c!

 

New ballet & landscape instagrams!

instagram.com/fineartballet

www.instagram.com/elliotmcgucken/

 

Nikon D810 Epic Fine Art Ballerina Goddess Dancing Ballet! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Ballet!

 

Marrying epic landscape, nature, and urban photography to ballet!

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

Nikon D810 with the Nikon MB-D12 Multi Battery Power Pack / Grip for D800 and D810 Digital Cameras allows one to shoot at a high to catch the action FPS! Ballerina Dance Goddess Photos! Pretty, Tall Ballet Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Captured with the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II from Nikon, and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon! Love them both!

 

www.facebook.com/45surfAchillesOdysseyMythology

  

A pretty goddess straight out of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey!

 

New Instagram! instagram.com/45surf

 

New facebook: www.facebook.com/45surfAchillesOdysseyMythology

 

Join my new fine art ballet facebook page! www.facebook.com/fineartballet/

 

The 45EPIC landscapes and goddesses are straight out of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey!

 

I'm currently updating a translation with the Greek names for the gods and goddesses--will publish soon! :)

"RAGE--Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another. " --Homer's Iliad capturing the rage of the 45EPIC landscapes and seascapes! :)

 

Ludwig van Beethoven: "Music/poetry/art should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman."

  

I started dieting April 15, 2012. Yes, I remember the day bc I glorified it for so many years. I started bc I didn’t physically feel well a lot of the time & I struggled with body image. We all know the cure for that: DIET & EXERCISE! Right?? I posted about my journey for “accountability” and got so much positive feedback. “You look amazing! You’re such an inspiration! Can you help me too?” I was so excited bc I hadn’t ever moved my body or honored it in anyway prior to that. Fueled by the results & positive reinforcement, I kept looking for better ways to diet and exercise for a few years. Then I found CrossFit, an entire global community of dieters & exercisers looking to do as much of both as possible. Perfect! For over 5 years I learned to micro-manage every seed I put into my mouth and sweat more than I ever had in my life. I was so proud to be a woman that was strong. And I still am. But things started to change eventually.

 

Every morning I’d wait until I pooped to weigh myself naked so that I would know the REAL number. What’s this?? How did my weight go up when I paid someone to tell me exactly how much to eat?! Must have been too much broccoli. I’ll pack food to bring to the pizza party. I’ll go “super clean” before the trip, party, event, etc. Everything I learned about, I tried. When information conflicted, I hedged my bets and restricted more of it. I wanted to be the gold standard and I wasn’t going to let anything mess that up. I even became Precision Nutrition “certified” because paying people to tell me what they learned in that one book - that apparently gave them the legal right to charge people to help them restrict food without any other credentials in nutrition or psychology - wasn’t working, so I opted to just become certified myself. And then the inevitable happened... it all stopped working. No matter what I did, who I paid, the results just stopped. My body began to bloat in ways I couldn’t anticipate, no matter what I added or eliminated. Physical discomfort I didn’t know how to stop. The stress of this sent me spiraling emotionally. The only logical explanation was that I was doing something wrong, that there was something I wasn’t doing, and that I wasn’t doing enough. My mind and time were consumed with how to control my body through food & exercise. Devastated when those around me succeeded with less perceived effort than me. I gave myself no leeway.

 

In May 2017 I was in the thick of this. I had been single for about a year and was ready to start dating again. I had been strict intermittent fasting, 8-10 hours of eating & 14-16 off, no matter what. I was asked on a date by someone I was actually really excited about. We had met a few years back working a wedding together and he was really cool. We made the date for a Wednesday night. I was coaching early on Wednesdays then, which meant I needed to start eating earlier in the day. 7-5 to be exact. I decided to do this even though I knew I was going out that night. NO EXCUSES!! Unfortunately the 2 drinks I had over the 4 hour date left me absolutely drunk and spinning.

We were having a fun evening up until that point.

I didn’t feel unsafe going back to his place to sober up.

I thought I could trust him.

I was tragically mistaken.

When I came to and stopped him I remember him trying to explain why it was ok that he was doing what he was doing. He really liked me and would be my boyfriend, he said. Date rape is a terrible and confusing thing to have happen to you. It took me over a week, walking around like a zombie, and a very concerned response from a friend when I told her the story, to really understand what happened to me. I broke ties with him immediately and tried to move on. I acknowledged the truth, felt what I needed to, and opted to learn from it. That year I only shot one wedding and it was out of state. I pulled up to the venue and I see him walking towards me. Out of all the videographers they could have possibly hired, they chose him. And I worked with him. I knew I had to. I could not go up to a bride on her wedding day, as she’s getting ready, and tell her I can’t do it. I learned a lot about my strength as a woman that day.

 

I think it’s important to understand that this happened to me at a time when I least expected it to. I was, and still am, at a point in my life where I consider myself to be a very happy person. I had become self-employed and was enjoying the successes of that. I didn’t view my dieting and exercising as anything bad at the time, and took a lot of pride in my discipline and knowledge. I was happy being single and very selective about who I went out with. I was confident I’d never put myself into a dangerous position again. I felt strong and empowered. It took me a long time to realize how my dieting/exercise routine had contributed to the events of that night. That guy is 100% responsible for his actions that night. It also breaks my heart to think about that version of myself that was so afraid to eat food. A version that weighed her options and chose to drink on an empty stomach and put her trust into her date’s hands.

 

My best friend got married in August 2019, and I was thrilled to be her Maid of Honor. A very special role with a lot of responsibilities and investments. I cleaned up my eating for months beforehand, and was exclusively strict for the month leading up to the big day. By the time the wedding day came, I was happy enough with my results. I was still struggling with my body image and not looking how I felt I should have with the amount of effort I put in. All that effort paired with the time and money invested into the wedding, I became terrified that if I ate any of the food at the wedding I would either A.) get sick because I knew how my body would react to foods I hadn’t been allowing myself to eat, and/or B.) bloat up and undo all the hard work I’d put in for months to look a certain way. So when everyone else was grabbing slices from the pizza food truck, or sampling the dessert options, I was eating cucumbers and hummus at my table. I wasn’t happy about it either. I felt sorry for myself and made up for it at the open bar. I had a great time at her wedding, but know now just how much more fun and enjoyment I could have shared on this most memorable of occasions.

 

The dangers of diet culture were completely unknown and unheard of in my life until I met my friend Iona. She and her partner run a movement based community in Boston, and I fell in love with them immediately. They used to be Crossfitters so I knew I would be understood there. She would talk a little bit about Crossfit and why she wasn’t doing it anymore and why she had stopped restricting food. Sounded good for her, but I couldn’t imagine not watching what I ate. But we’d keep chatting, and followed each other on social media so I was seeing the things she was sharing on the topic. Some things she shared didn’t sound like me at all. I had never been as great as she was and didn’t feel like our stories were the same. I had started a deep mediation practice at the beginning of 2019 that started to shake the foundation of my food & body beliefs. As I listened more to her story, and as I deepened my own personal awareness, I found myself deeply resonating with her. I was having a hard time putting uncomfortable feelings into words. She recommended two books to me: The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner, and Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole.

 

It has been a year since I read The Fuck It Diet, and it shook me down to my core. So much of what she was describing sounded just like everything I was feeling. I felt angry at an industry I was a loyal disciple of for years. I felt ashamed of all the preaching in it’s favor I had done over the years. I felt overwhelmed in realizing that all the work I had put into optimizing my body was actually doing the opposite. I knew without a doubt that this was what my body and soul needed. A release from the confinement of diet culture. So I purchased Intuitive Eating and the accompanying workbook, and spent the last year slowly chipping away at the 10 principles of IE. In TFID she mentions that it can take 3-6 months for people to heal from disordered eating, some more and some less. I figured I’d be done nice and quick. Nope. This shit is HARD. So hard. Especially when the world shuts down 1 month into your practice and turns your world upside-down. I suffered a lot during the quarantine, and I did it silently. I couldn’t share my pain, and didn’t know how to. But I kept at it. I knew I couldn’t give up on this, too much was on the line. I moved in with my boyfriend during the pandemic which threw in a whole new twist and added challenges. I started unfollowing influencers & nutrition pages by the dozen. I utilized a food delivery service to help me take the pressure off of thinking about food so much. I was sick of it. I reached out to Iona for support. And I kept at it, even when it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I kept at it. I knew my life depended on it.

 

Then some amazing things started to happen. I would put the pint of Ben & Jerry’s back in the fridge instead of eating it all at once. I could eat half my food at a restaurant and easily ask to bring the rest home. A package of cookies went stale in the cabinet because I just didn’t feel like eating them. I started buying new clothes that fit my body now, and even went as far as to go shopping when I felt most uncomfortable and bloated so I knew I could trust my clothes to truly bring me comfort. I can say no when I’m not hungry. I’m starting to be able to truly identify my hunger and fullness cues, and honor them. I’m starting to trust that my body knows what it’s doing and that it knows what size it wants to be. I can trust myself around food now because I know, without a doubt, that I can have it if I want to. Restriction is what leads to overeating, not the other way around. This, by far, has been the hardest but truest lesson I’ve learned in the decade I’ve spent educating myself on fitness and nutrition. I still have a lot of work to do, practice makes progress, and progress is never linear.

 

I have chosen to share this experience for a few reasons. First, the bravery of my friend sharing her vulnerable yet powerful healing experience inspired me to do the same for myself. This is the biggest hope for this project. We don’t get to choose who we influence, or how our influence is received. But we all have a story, and someone out there needs to hear YOUR story. Second, this has been one of the biggest personal items I have been working on recently and has caused a big upheaval in how I approach my life and my work. I pride myself on being openminded and allowing myself the grace to change my mind. Changing my mind on fitness and nutrition was not something I was expecting, and it is not what big diet culture wants us to believe. It is woven into our healthcare, media, and schools. Third, this is a topic I know millions of people, especially women, struggle with every single day. Fourth and final reason is the intersection of so many things in this experience. Self-worth, body image, sexism, science as a religion. Too much of what we think has been put there by someone else. My hope is that sharing my experience with diet culture, date rape, and orthorexia (eating disorder with the preoccupation with eating healthy food) that someone else will be inspired to free themselves from these cages and live life a little happier. Food CAN be neutral and our bodies do know what they’re doing.

. . . seen from my house

__________________________

 

A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the sun.

 

Rainbows can be full circles. However, the average observer sees only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground, and centred on a line from the sun to the observer's eye.

 

In a primary rainbow, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted when entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.

 

In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and has the order of its colours reversed, with red on the inner side of the arc.

 

OVERVIEW

A rainbow is not located at a specific distance from the observer, but comes from an optical illusion caused by any water droplets viewed from a certain angle relative to a light source. Thus, a rainbow is not an object and cannot be physically approached. Indeed, it is impossible for an observer to see a rainbow from water droplets at any angle other than the customary one of 42 degrees from the direction opposite the light source. Even if an observer sees another observer who seems "under" or "at the end of" a rainbow, the second observer will see a different rainbow - farther off - at the same angle as seen by the first observer.

 

Rainbows span a continuous spectrum of colours. Any distinct bands perceived are an artefact of human colour vision, and no banding of any type is seen in a black-and-white photo of a rainbow, only a smooth gradation of intensity to a maximum, then fading towards the other side. For colours seen by the human eye, the most commonly cited and remembered sequence is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, remembered by the mnemonic, Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (ROYGBIV).

 

Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray, and airborne dew.

 

VISIBILITY

Rainbows can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind the observer at a low altitude angle. Because of this, rainbows are usually seen in the western sky during the morning and in the eastern sky during the early evening. The most spectacular rainbow displays happen when half the sky is still dark with raining clouds and the observer is at a spot with clear sky in the direction of the sun. The result is a luminous rainbow that contrasts with the darkened background. During such good visibility conditions, the larger but fainter secondary rainbow is often visible. It appears about 10° outside of the primary rainbow, with inverse order of colours.

 

The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near waterfalls or fountains. In addition, the effect can be artificially created by dispersing water droplets into the air during a sunny day. Rarely, a moonbow, lunar rainbow or nighttime rainbow, can be seen on strongly moonlit nights. As human visual perception for colour is poor in low light, moonbows are often perceived to be white.

 

It is difficult to photograph the complete semicircle of a rainbow in one frame, as this would require an angle of view of 84°. For a 35 mm camera, a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 19 mm or less would be required. Now that software for stitching several images into a panorama is available, images of the entire arc and even secondary arcs can be created fairly easily from a series of overlapping frames.

 

From above the earth such as in an aeroplane, it is sometimes possible to see a rainbow as a full circle. This phenomenon can be confused with the glory phenomenon, but a glory is usually much smaller, covering only 5–20°.

 

The sky inside a primary rainbow is brighter than the sky outside of the bow. This is because each raindrop is a sphere and it scatters light over an entire circular disc in the sky. The radius of the disc depends on the wavelength of light, with red light being scattered over a larger angle than blue light. Over most of the disc, scattered light at all wavelengths overlaps, resulting in white light which brightens the sky. At the edge, the wavelength dependence of the scattering gives rise to the rainbow.

 

Light of primary rainbow arc is 96% polarised tangential to the arch. Light of second arc is 90% polarised.

Number of colours in spectrum or rainbow

 

A spectrum obtained using a glass prism and a point source is a continuum of wavelengths without bands. The number of colours that the human eye is able to distinguish in a spectrum is in the order of 100. Accordingly, the Munsell colour system (a 20th-century system for numerically describing colours, based on equal steps for human visual perception) distinguishes 100 hues. The apparent discreteness of main colours is an artefact of human perception and the exact number of main colours is a somewhat arbitrary choice.

 

Newton, who admitted his eyes were not very critical in distinguishing colours, originally (1672) divided the spectrum into five main colours: red, yellow, green, blue and violet. Later he included orange and indigo, giving seven main colours by analogy to the number of notes in a musical scale. Newton chose to divide the visible spectrum into seven colours out of a belief derived from the beliefs of the ancient Greek sophists, who thought there was a connection between the colours, the musical notes, the known objects in the Solar System, and the days of the week.

 

According to Isaac Asimov, "It is customary to list indigo as a color lying between blue and violet, but it has never seemed to me that indigo is worth the dignity of being considered a separate color. To my eyes it seems merely deep blue."

 

The colour pattern of a rainbow is different from a spectrum, and the colours are less saturated. There is spectral smearing in a rainbow owing to the fact that for any particular wavelength, there is a distribution of exit angles, rather than a single unvarying angle. In addition, a rainbow is a blurred version of the bow obtained from a point source, because the disk diameter of the sun (0.5°) cannot be neglected compared to the width of a rainbow (2°). The number of colour bands of a rainbow may therefore be different from the number of bands in a spectrum, especially if the droplets are particularly large or small. Therefore, the number of colours of a rainbow is variable. If, however, the word rainbow is used inaccurately to mean spectrum, it is the number of main colours in the spectrum.

 

The question of whether everyone sees seven colours in a rainbow is related to the idea of Linguistic relativity. Suggestions have been made that there is universality in the way that a rainbow is perceived. However, more recent research suggests that the number of distinct colours observed and what these are called depend on the language that one uses with people whose language has fewer colour words seeing fewer discrete colour bands.

 

EXPLANATION

When sunlight encounters a raindrop, part of the light is reflected and the rest enters the raindrop. The light is refracted at the surface of the raindrop. When this light hits the back of the raindrop, some of it is reflected off the back. When the internally reflected light reaches the surface again, once more some is internally reflected and some is refracted as it exits the drop. (The light that reflects off the drop, exits from the back, or continues to bounce around inside the drop after the second encounter with the surface, is not relevant to the formation of the primary rainbow.) The overall effect is that part of the incoming light is reflected back over the range of 0° to 42°, with the most intense light at 42°. This angle is independent of the size of the drop, but does depend on its refractive index. Seawater has a higher refractive index than rain water, so the radius of a "rainbow" in sea spray is smaller than a true rainbow. This is visible to the naked eye by a misalignment of these bows.

 

The reason the returning light is most intense at about 42° is that this is a turning point – light hitting the outermost ring of the drop gets returned at less than 42°, as does the light hitting the drop nearer to its centre. There is a circular band of light that all gets returned right around 42°. If the sun were a laser emitting parallel, monochromatic rays, then the luminance (brightness) of the bow would tend toward infinity at this angle (ignoring interference effects). (See Caustic (optics).) But since the sun's luminance is finite and its rays are not all parallel (it covers about half a degree of the sky) the luminance does not go to infinity. Furthermore, the amount by which light is refracted depends upon its wavelength, and hence its colour. This effect is called dispersion. Blue light (shorter wavelength) is refracted at a greater angle than red light, but due to the reflection of light rays from the back of the droplet, the blue light emerges from the droplet at a smaller angle to the original incident white light ray than the red light. Due to this angle, blue is seen on the inside of the arc of the primary rainbow, and red on the outside. The result of this is not only to give different colours to different parts of the rainbow, but also to diminish the brightness. (A "rainbow" formed by droplets of a liquid with no dispersion would be white, but brighter than a normal rainbow.)

 

The light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total internal reflection, and some light does emerge from the back. However, light coming out the back of the raindrop does not create a rainbow between the observer and the sun because spectra emitted from the back of the raindrop do not have a maximum of intensity, as the other visible rainbows do, and thus the colours blend together rather than forming a rainbow.

 

A rainbow does not exist at one particular location. Many rainbows exist; however, only one can be seen depending on the particular observer's viewpoint as droplets of light illuminated by the sun. All raindrops refract and reflect the sunlight in the same way, but only the light from some raindrops reaches the observer's eye. This light is what constitutes the rainbow for that observer. The whole system composed by the sun's rays, the observer's head, and the (spherical) water drops has an axial symmetry around the axis through the observer's head and parallel to the sun's rays. The rainbow is curved because the set of all the raindrops that have the right angle between the observer, the drop, and the sun, lie on a cone pointing at the sun with the observer at the tip. The base of the cone forms a circle at an angle of 40–42° to the line between the observer's head and their shadow but 50% or more of the circle is below the horizon, unless the observer is sufficiently far above the earth's surface to see it all, for example in an aeroplane (see above). Alternatively, an observer with the right vantage point may see the full circle in a fountain or waterfall spray.

 

MATHEMATICAL DERIVATION

We can determine the perceived angle which the rainbow subtends as follows.

 

Given a spherical raindrop, and defining the perceived angle of the rainbow as 2φ, and the angle of the internal reflection as 2β, then the angle of incidence of the sun's rays with respect to the drop's surface normal is 2β − φ. Since the angle of refraction is β, Snell's law gives us

 

sin(2β − φ) = n sin β,

 

where n = 1.333 is the refractive index of water. Solving for φ, we get

 

φ = 2β − arcsin(n sin β).

 

The rainbow will occur where the angle φ is maximum with respect to the angle β. Therefore, from calculus, we can set dφ/dβ = 0, and solve for β.

 

Substituting back into the earlier equation for φ yields 2φmax ≈ 42° as the radius angle of the rainbow.

 

VARIATION

MULTIPLE RAINBOWS

Secondary rainbows are caused by a double reflection of sunlight inside the raindrops, and are centred on the sun itself. They are about 127° (violet) to 130° (red) wide. Since this is more than 90°, they are seen on the same side of the sky as the primary rainbow, about 10° above it at apparent angles of 50–53°. As a result of the "inside" of the secondary bow being "up" to the observer, the colours appear reversed compared to the primary bow. The secondary rainbow is fainter than the primary because more light escapes from two reflections compared to one and because the rainbow itself is spread over a greater area of the sky. Each rainbow reflects white light inside its coloured bands, but that is "down" for the primary and "up" for the secondary. The dark area of unlit sky lying between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander's band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it.

 

TWINNED RAINBOW

Unlike a double rainbow that consists of two separate and concentric rainbow arcs, the very rare twinned rainbow appears as two rainbow arcs that split from a single base. The colours in the second bow, rather than reversing as in a secondary rainbow, appear in the same order as the primary rainbow. A "normal" secondary rainbow may be present as well. Twinned rainbows can look similar to, but should not be confused with supernumerary bands. The two phenomena may be told apart by their difference in colour profile: supernumerary bands consist of subdued pastel hues (mainly pink, purple and green), while the twinned rainbow shows the same spectrum as a regular rainbow. The cause of a twinned rainbow is the combination of different sizes of water drops falling from the sky. Due to air resistance, raindrops flatten as they fall, and flattening is more prominent in larger water drops. When two rain showers with different-sized raindrops combine, they each produce slightly different rainbows which may combine and form a twinned rainbow. A numerical ray tracing study showed that a twinned rainbow on a photo could be explained by a mixture of 0.40 and 0.45 mm

 

droplets. That small difference in droplet size resulted in a small difference in flattening of the droplet shape, and a large difference in flattening of the rainbow top.

 

Meanwhile, the even rarer case of a rainbow split into three branches was observed and photographed in nature.

 

FULL-CIRCLE RAINBOW

In theory, every rainbow is a circle, but from the ground, only its upper half can be seen. Since the rainbow's centre is diametrically opposed to the sun's position in the sky, more of the circle comes into view as the sun approaches the horizon, meaning that the largest section of the circle normally seen is about 50% during sunset or sunrise. Viewing the rainbow's lower half requires the presence of water droplets below the observer's horizon, as well as sunlight that is able to reach them. These requirements are not usually met when the viewer is at ground level, either because droplets are absent in the required position, or because the sunlight is obstructed by the landscape behind the observer. From a high viewpoint such as a high building or an aircraft, however, the requirements can be met and the full-circle rainbow can be seen. Like a partial rainbow, the circular rainbow can have a secondary bow or supernumerary bows as well. It is possible to produce the full circle when standing on the ground, for example by spraying a water mist from a garden hose while facing away from the sun.

 

A circular rainbow should not be confused with the glory, which is much smaller in diameter and is created by different optical processes. In the right circumstances, a glory and a (circular) rainbow or fog bow can occur together. Another atmospheric phenomenon that may be mistaken for a "circular rainbow" is the 22° halo, which is caused by ice crystals rather than liquid water droplets, and is located around the sun (or moon), not opposite it.

 

SUPERNUMERARY RAINBOWS

In certain circumstances, one or several narrow, faintly coloured bands can be seen bordering the violet edge of a rainbow; i.e., inside the primary bow or, much more rarely, outside the secondary. These extra bands are called supernumerary rainbows or supernumerary bands; together with the rainbow itself the phenomenon is also known as a stacker rainbow. The supernumerary bows are slightly detached from the main bow, become successively fainter along with their distance from it, and have pastel colours (consisting mainly of pink, purple and green hues) rather than the usual spectrum pattern. The effect becomes apparent when water droplets are involved that have a diameter of about 1mm or less; the smaller the droplets are, the broader the supernumerary bands become, and the less saturated their colours. Due to their origin in small droplets, supernumerary bands tend to be particularly prominent in fogbows.

 

Supernumerary rainbows cannot be explained using classical geometric optics. The alternating faint bands are caused by interference between rays of light following slightly different paths with slightly varying lengths within the raindrops. Some rays are in phase, reinforcing each other through constructive interference, creating a bright band; others are out of phase by up to half a wavelength, cancelling each other out through destructive interference, and creating a gap. Given the different angles of refraction for rays of different colours, the patterns of interference are slightly different for rays of different colours, so each bright band is differentiated in colour, creating a miniature rainbow. Supernumerary rainbows are clearest when raindrops are small and of uniform size. The very existence of supernumerary rainbows was historically a first indication of the wave nature of light, and the first explanation was provided by Thomas Young in 1804.

 

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

The classical Greek scholar Aristotle (384–322 BC) was first to devote serious attention to the rainbow. According to Raymond L. Lee and Alistair B. Fraser, "Despite its many flaws and its appeal to Pythagorean numerology, Aristotle's qualitative explanation showed an inventiveness and relative consistency that was unmatched for centuries. After Aristotle's death, much rainbow theory consisted of reaction to his work, although not all of this was uncritical."

 

In Book I of Naturales Quaestiones (c. 65 AD), the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger discusses various theories of the formation of rainbows extensively, including those of Aristotle. He notices that rainbows appear always opposite to the sun, that they appear in water sprayed by a rower, in the water spat by a fuller on clothes stretched on pegs or by water sprayed through a small hole in a burst pipe. He even speaks of rainbows produced by small rods (virgulae) of glass, anticipating Newton's experiences with prisms. He takes into account two theories: one, that the rainbow is produced by the sun reflecting in each water drop, the other, that it is produced by the sun reflected in a cloud shaped like a concave mirror; he favours the latter. He also discusses other phenomena related to rainbows: the mysterious "virgae" (rods), halos and parhelia.

 

According to Hüseyin Gazi Topdemir, the Persian physicist and polymath Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen; 965–1039), attempted to provide a scientific explanation for the rainbow phenomenon. In his Maqala fi al-Hala wa Qaws Quzah (On the Rainbow and Halo), al-Haytham "explained the formation of rainbow as an image, which forms at a concave mirror. If the rays of light coming from a farther light source reflect to any point on axis of the concave mirror, they form concentric circles in that point. When it is supposed that the sun as a farther light source, the eye of viewer as a point on the axis of mirror and a cloud as a reflecting surface, then it can be observed the concentric circles are forming on the axis." He was not able to verify this because his theory that "light from the sun is reflected by a cloud before reaching the eye" did not allow for a possible experimental verification. This explanation was later repeated by Averroes, and, though incorrect, provided the groundwork for the correct explanations later given by Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī (1267–1319) and Theodoric of Freiberg (c.1250–1310).

 

Ibn al-Haytham's contemporary, the Persian philosopher and polymath Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna; 980–1037), provided an alternative explanation, writing "that the bow is not formed in the dark cloud but rather in the very thin mist lying between the cloud and the sun or observer. The cloud, he thought, serves simply as the background of this thin substance, much as a quicksilver lining is placed upon the rear surface of the glass in a mirror. Ibn Sīnā would change the place not only of the bow, but also of the colour formation, holding the iridescence to be merely a subjective sensation in the eye." This explanation, however, was also incorrect.[65] Ibn Sīnā's account accepts many of Aristotle's arguments on the rainbow.

 

In Song Dynasty China (960–1279), a polymath scholar-official named Shen Kuo (1031–1095) hypothesised—as a certain Sun Sikong (1015–1076) did before him—that rainbows were formed by a phenomenon of sunlight encountering droplets of rain in the air. Paul Dong writes that Shen's explanation of the rainbow as a phenomenon of atmospheric refraction "is basically in accord with modern scientific principles."

 

According to Nader El-Bizri, the Persian astronomer, Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236–1311), gave a fairly accurate explanation for the rainbow phenomenon. This was elaborated on by his student, Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī (1267–1319), who gave a more mathematically satisfactory explanation of the rainbow. He "proposed a model where the ray of light from the sun was refracted twice by a water droplet, one or more reflections occurring between the two refractions." An experiment with a water-filled glass sphere was conducted and al-Farisi showed the additional refractions due to the glass could be ignored in his model. As he noted in his Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir (The Revision of the Optics), al-Farisi used a large clear vessel of glass in the shape of a sphere, which was filled with water, in order to have an experimental large-scale model of a rain drop. He then placed this model within a camera obscura that has a controlled aperture for the introduction of light. He projected light unto the sphere and ultimately deduced through several trials and detailed observations of reflections and refractions of light that the colours of the rainbow are phenomena of the decomposition of light.

 

In Europe, Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics was translated into Latin and studied by Robert Grosseteste. His work on light was continued by Roger Bacon, who wrote in his Opus Majus of 1268 about experiments with light shining through crystals and water droplets showing the colours of the rainbow. In addition, Bacon was the first to calculate the angular size of the rainbow. He stated that the rainbow summit can not appear higher than 42° above the horizon. Theodoric of Freiberg is known to have given an accurate theoretical explanation of both the primary and secondary rainbows in 1307. He explained the primary rainbow, noting that "when sunlight falls on individual drops of moisture, the rays undergo two refractions (upon ingress and egress) and one reflection (at the back of the drop) before transmission into the eye of the observer." He explained the secondary rainbow through a similar analysis involving two refractions and two reflections.

 

Descartes' 1637 treatise, Discourse on Method, further advanced this explanation. Knowing that the size of raindrops did not appear to affect the observed rainbow, he experimented with passing rays of light through a large glass sphere filled with water. By measuring the angles that the rays emerged, he concluded that the primary bow was caused by a single internal reflection inside the raindrop and that a secondary bow could be caused by two internal reflections. He supported this conclusion with a derivation of the law of refraction (subsequently to, but independently of, Snell) and correctly calculated the angles for both bows. His explanation of the colours, however, was based on a mechanical version of the traditional theory that colours were produced by a modification of white light.

 

Isaac Newton demonstrated that white light was composed of the light of all the colours of the rainbow, which a glass prism could separate into the full spectrum of colours, rejecting the theory that the colours were produced by a modification of white light. He also showed that red light is refracted less than blue light, which led to the first scientific explanation of the major features of the rainbow. Newton's corpuscular theory of light was unable to explain supernumerary rainbows, and a satisfactory explanation was not found until Thomas Young realised that light behaves as a wave under certain conditions, and can interfere with itself.

 

Young's work was refined in the 1820s by George Biddell Airy, who explained the dependence of the strength of the colours of the rainbow on the size of the water droplets. Modern physical descriptions of the rainbow are based on Mie scattering, work published by Gustav Mie in 1908. Advances in computational methods and optical theory continue to lead to a fuller understanding of rainbows. For example, Nussenzveig provides a modern overview.

 

EXPERIMENTS

Experiments on the rainbow phenomenon using artificial raindrops, i.e. water-filled spherical flasks, go back at least to Theodoric of Freiberg in the 14th century. Later, also Descartes studied the phenomenon using a Florence flask. A flask experiment known as Florence's rainbow is still today often-used as an imposing and intuitively accessible demonstration experiment of the rainbow phenomenon. It consists in illuminating (with parallel white light) a water-filled spherical flask through a hole in a screen. A rainbow will then appear thrown back / projected on the screen, provided the screen is large enough. Due to the finite wall thickness and the macroscopic character of the artificial raindrop, several subtle differences exist as compared to the natural phenomenon, including slightly changed rainbow angles and a splitting of the rainbow orders.

 

A very similar experiment consists in using a cylindrical glass vessel filled with water or a solid transparent cylinder and illuminated either parallel to the circular base (i.e. light rays remaining at a fixed hight while they transit the cylinder) or under an angle to the base. Under these latter conditions the rainbow angles change relative to the natural phenomenon since the effective index of refraction of water changes (Bravais' index of refraction for inclined rays applies).

 

Other experiments use small liquid drops, see text above.

 

CULTURE

Rainbows occur frequently in mythology, and have been used in the arts. One of the earliest literary occurrences of a rainbow is in Genesis 9, as part of the flood story of Noah, where it is a sign of God's covenant to never destroy all life on earth with a global flood again. In Norse mythology, the rainbow bridge Bifröst connects the world of men (Midgard) and the realm of the gods (Asgard). Cuchavira was the god of the rainbow for the Muisca people in present-day Colombia and when the regular rains on the Bogotá savanna were over, the people thanked him offering gold, snails and small emeralds. The Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This place is appropriately impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which cannot be approached.

 

Rainbows sometimes appear in heraldry too, even if its characteristic of multiple colours doesn't really fit in to the usual heraldic style.

 

Rainbow flags have been used for centuries. It was a symbol of the Cooperative movement in the German Peasants' War in the 16th century, of peace in Italy, and of gay pride and LGBT social movements since the 1970s. In 1994, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandela described newly democratic post-apartheid South Africa as the rainbow nation. The rainbow has even been used in technology product logos including the Apple computer logo. Many political alliances have called themselves Rainbow Coalition.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Physically, if not politically.

 

Oh, why am I standing on one leg? Because I can, of course.

trying to mentally & physically support everyone #Tweet, #Location, #Learn, #Twitter, #Code, #Denta2ujpl, #Copying, #Hiccup, #Momentary, #Website #Contfeed

 

Check out here >> cofd.co/an8zv

"The various classrooms and communal areas are treated as a series of linked pavilions, each with its own tall hipped roof rising to a canted rooflight"

i've had one of the most physically/mentally exhausting and stressful days ever today and i didn't even think that was possible compared to some days i've had lately, which is why i'm going to keep this short. full explanation of the problems i've been experiencing are detailed in this thread:

 

www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157634489886893/

 

TL;DR - flickr is malfunctioning and is currently borderline unusable for me.

 

- if you left me a comment, it may have disappeared, been deleted, or i am simply unable to reply to it even if i can read it.

- if you sent me a flickrmail, i am not able to view it or see that the mail in my inbox is from you; it may even have been deleted.

- if you +faved any of my photos, your +fav may have been deleted or simply not showing up.

- if you replied to any of my comments, they may not be showing up in my recent activity feed or anywhere else at all.

 

i'll update with more details later.

 

i may not be at my PC much for the rest of the day but if you need or want to contact me leave a message to xxleitanxx on AIM or Skype, or xxleitanxx at gmail.

 

Mercer County 9/11 Memorial

 

"The Event

On September 11, 2001, America suffered an assault on its home soil that resulted in almost 3,000 dead and countless others physically and emotionally wounded. The victims were nationals of more than 70 countries, making this tragedy global in impact. Dedicated on this, the 11 Day of September, 2011 on the 10th Anniversary of September 11, this memorial is a lasting tribute to the heroes who perished.

Lest we forget.

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders"

 

"The Sculpture

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are an icon of the events of September 11, 2001, and a constant reminder of the human loss there, at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This monument displays a segment of a steel girder salvaged from the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the attack. The steel cable was part of a World Trade Center elevator and was acquired only a few months before tragedy struck. They are displayed here in a simple setting to keep fresh in our memories the stark reality of September 11th and to encourage reflection on the events of that day and their enduring consequences."

 

------------------------

The design of the Memorial was commissioned by the Mercer County Park Commission, through Kevin Bannon, Executive Director. The design team for the Memorial was led by Michael Sullivan, ASLA, AICP of Clarke Caton Hintz, Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Geoff Vaughn, ASLA was the project designer for Clarke Caton Hintz.

 

The Memorial design team included:

 

Peter Abrams and Erik Hendrickson of Trenton Atelier, provided the wire rope (cable) segments and designed the configuration of the cables and the way in which they engage the monumental wall and the steel girder from the World Trade Center.

 

John Harrison and Richard Miller of Harrison Hamnett, provided structural engineering design.

 

Frank Tindall of Kelter and Gilligo, provided electrical engineering design.

 

Martin Katz of Princeton Junction Engineering, provided surveying and base plans.

 

(press packet information courtesy of Michael Sullivan)

 

The Mercer County September 11 Memorial is located in the Marina section of Mercer County Park in West Windsor, New Jersey - Google Map -

Additional views

 

Miles from Ground Zero: 58

 

9/11 Index

 

This example will help prevent crashes with turning cars. This intersection will not allow red light right turns.

 

Bikers go from the lane straight into the bike box. This works great when the cyclist arrives at a red light and can safely wait in the bike box and even get in the left turn lane without crossing two lanes of traffic. For those who arrive during a green light and want to left, then they will have to yield. The bollards (black dots) will help drivers remember that there are cyclists here. The red colored bike box will also help this. The bollards could even have flashing red lights.

 

Also, try to think about the cities in this country that have physically separated light rail trains. The trains also must interact with traffic (and drivers run their cars into the trains all the time). The trains get priority signaling when they approach an intersection. For much of the train's route, it is separate from traffic, but then drivers have to remember that sometimes they will be in the same lane as the train, or if the driver wants to turn right, but the train lane is on his/her right, he/she has to watch out for the train.

 

God, think if Chicago just all of a sudden dropped a streetcar in our streets. Drivers would be wtf and hit the trains.

 

BTW, I did get rid of stray pencil marks in photoshop and used the paint bucket tool to fill in that bike box.

 

UPDATE: Starting in 2008 in New York City, several miles of these lanes were installed, but only on one-way streets and the cycletrack is on the left side of the lanes.

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

Sometimes we get knocked down, emotionally and physically. Our limits and strength get tested once in awhile. Some of us don't let people see when we start to break. So we keep it to ourselves. And handle it on our own. Because we're the ones who have to want to get up and keep fighting. To fix our crowns, look at whatever the problem is and say "I got this." Whenever those moments come, take a breath and remember you are strong enough. You are good enough. You are the king/queen of your own life. And whatever problem you are presented, you can handle.

 

www.lisawheels89.wixsite.com/keystophotography

Mercer County 9/11 Memorial

 

"The Event

On September 11, 2001, America suffered an assault on its home soil that resulted in almost 3,000 dead and countless others physically and emotionally wounded. The victims were nationals of more than 70 countries, making this tragedy global in impact. Dedicated on this, the 11 Day of September, 2011 on the 10th Anniversary of September 11, this memorial is a lasting tribute to the heroes who perished.

Lest we forget.

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders"

 

"The Sculpture

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are an icon of the events of September 11, 2001, and a constant reminder of the human loss there, at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This monument displays a segment of a steel girder salvaged from the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the attack. The steel cable was part of a World Trade Center elevator and was acquired only a few months before tragedy struck. They are displayed here in a simple setting to keep fresh in our memories the stark reality of September 11th and to encourage reflection on the events of that day and their enduring consequences."

 

------------------------

The design of the Memorial was commissioned by the Mercer County Park Commission, through Kevin Bannon, Executive Director. The design team for the Memorial was led by Michael Sullivan, ASLA, AICP of Clarke Caton Hintz, Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Geoff Vaughn, ASLA was the project designer for Clarke Caton Hintz.

 

The Memorial design team included:

 

Peter Abrams and Erik Hendrickson of Trenton Atelier, provided the wire rope (cable) segments and designed the configuration of the cables and the way in which they engage the monumental wall and the steel girder from the World Trade Center.

 

John Harrison and Richard Miller of Harrison Hamnett, provided structural engineering design.

 

Frank Tindall of Kelter and Gilligo, provided electrical engineering design.

 

Martin Katz of Princeton Junction Engineering, provided surveying and base plans.

 

(press packet information courtesy of Michael Sullivan)

 

The Mercer County September 11 Memorial is located in the Marina section of Mercer County Park in West Windsor, New Jersey - Google Map -

Additional views

 

Miles from Ground Zero: 58

 

9/11 Index

 

With every year of this transformation, I could feel myself changing. A little spiritual growth would lead into emotional health. Emotional health aided my mentality. My mentality allowed for the desire to move actively. Then it would continue to cycle. Getting in shape physically lead to more discipline and drive in other aspects of life. The more I accomplished in other areas, the more possibility opened up before me. Getting into Crossfit inspired me to begin a massage specialty with athletes. I wanted to be able to bring balance into my community. They all knew how to workout, but I wanted to help everyone take care of themselves outside of the gym. As a gym owner, Tim was looking to offer this sort of balance to his members and asked me if I knew any yoga instructors that might be interested in teaching at his gym. My response was I definitely know someone, and signed up for my 200 hour yoga teacher training.

 

One of my final elective weekends for my yoga teacher training was an energy based course with Ray Crist at the beginning of 2016. Being a huge fan of energy work, I was particularly excited for this workshop. I made sure to bring some of my most special quartz crystals with me to help magnify the energy. I got to the class a little early so I could set up my space, crystals displayed at the front of my mat. Other students were filing in and getting set up. It was a full classroom. Then a beautiful woman I had never met before came right up to me. “Hello,” she said. “I’m sorry if this is weird but I was just drawn to come over and talk to you. Are those your crystals?” This was an amazing compliment to receive right from the start. I introduced myself, explained my crystals, and shared that I am an energy worker and a massage therapist. She introduced herself as Kendra, and she was in the 300 hour yoga teacher program at the same school. She was also very excited to hear that I was a massage therapist and asked if I’d be willing to come to her house to massage her and her husband. It just so happened this was during the time I was preparing to become self-employed and was taking on new clientele. We exchanged information and scheduled appointments for later in the month.

 

Kendra & Gustavo were instant favorites of mine, and we became close. They are worldly, educated, and fascinating. Kendra’s energy easily pairs with my own, and we share a lot of the same interests and values. Gustavo is from Brazil and has such an interesting perspective on most matters, and has always really made me think.

 

Early on in our relationship, Kendra mentioned she had participated in a workshop called the Landmark Forum. She said it had really resonated with her and was helping her view her life in a different way. She said it was something I would probably really find interesting, but left it at that. About a year later Gustavo took the same course and he was blown away. When I saw him for the first time after he had done it, he couldn’t stop telling me about it. He said, “I can’t believe Kendra has lived with me for an entire year without me speaking this language with her!” From that moment on, every time I saw Gustavo he would talk about Landmark, how much it had impacted his life, and how much he thought I’d like it. I wasn’t opposed to it, but it also wasn’t at the top of my financial priorities. I had gone self-employed and was taking other certification courses to enhance my career. I kept it in mind as an option.

 

One Thursday when I was meeting with them, Gustavo was asking about how my little sister was doing. He perked up when I mentioned she was 13 and said, “So Landmark only hosts one teen class each year, you have to be at least 13 to take it, and the one this year starts tomorrow!” I was caught off guard. I was leaving for Europe the next week and didn’t know how I’d be able to manage bringing her back and forth between Carver and Quincy 3 days in a row with my client schedule, never mind pay for it. He said, “If money and driving weren’t a problem, do you think she would do it?” I couldn’t answer that question for her, and said it was up to her and my mother. In order for a teen to take the course, a parent or guardian needs to also take the course. I called my sister and spoke with my mom, telling them that my amazing friends had offered to put Rhiannon in this incredible program and cover the cost and rides. They also signed me up and covered that, thinking I’d count as a guardian. Later that day Kendra called me saying that I unfortunately didn’t count as a legal guardian, and also offered to sign my mom up as well. I was so taken aback by their generosity, and their care for me and my family.

 

My sister took the teen course in September 2017, and I took the adult Forum in January 2018. I went in with an open mind and happier than I had ever been. I came prepared with all my healthy meals, tools for mobilizing while I sat for the three 13 hour days, and a desire to learn more about whatever it was they were going to teach me. I wasn’t expecting things to come up for me the way they did and I got very uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I called Kendra the second day boiling over. She was kind and empathetic to what I was saying. She told me to hang in there, and that she didn’t know for certain but was thinking something with my father might be trying to surface. I knew she was right and that something was there for me to discover, so I stuck with it. Having Kendra & Gustavo in my life to continue instilling what I learned that weekend was invaluable. I was able to work through what came up for me. A few months later, I reconnected with my father whom I hadn’t spoken with for almost 14 years. Then with a little more guidance and self reflection, I was able to help my mom get to the Forum in March 2019. I was being braver than I ever thought I could be. By this point in my life, I would often say there is no ceiling to the potential for happiness and knowledge, but this experience lead me to believe I wasn’t standing in a building with no ceiling. I was finally climbing my mountain.

 

I view Kendra & Gustavo as dear friends and mentors. I thrive off of being around them, and always learn something new. Kendra helping me work through tough spots I struggle to figure out, and Gustavo helping me bring tough spots to the surface I didn’t know were there. My life has dramatically improved and my quality of spirit enhanced just in the few years of knowing them. They are role models for relationships, humanitarianism, communication, and self-responsibility. I will forever be grateful for their generosity and wisdom.

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

 

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

  

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

youtu.be/p0kjGOOZZog

 

Go-Go for a wild ride with the action girls! Russ Meyer, the king of exploitation, directs this lurid thrill-ride starring Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams as a trio of dancers who turn to murder and mayhem on a road trip from hell. Varla is well-endowed, beautiful, physically powerful, savvy and conniving. She lives for kicks, but she's also got a serious mad on for the world, and anyone who crosses her finds out the hard way. Her job as a go-go dancer, supplemented by a part time career in petty crime has afforded her a sleek and fast sports car, which she enjoys riding in the desert with her fellow dancers. One of them, Rosie, has a crush on Varla, which she happily encourages, even if Varla is really more interested in the control it gives her over Rosie than in Rosie herself. The other dancer, Billie, is a little harder for Varla to manage, but Billie isn't bright enough to outmaneuver Varla.

 

When the little gang run into a square drag racer, he winds up getting into a fight with Varla, losing of course. Varla makes sure he never talks back again, then kidnaps his girlfriend and makes a run for it. BIllie and Rosie tag along, and they soon become involved in intrigue with an old letch in the desert rumored to have a stash of cash hidden away somewhere. When Varla starts to lose control of the situation, things (again) become violent, leading to a revved-up climax! Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

synopsis

Exploitation maven Russ Meyer created a cult classic with this turbo-charged action film. Three curvaceous go-go dancers in a cool sports car go on a desert crime spree, led by Varla (the amazing Tura Satana), a busty, nasty woman dressed entirely in black. Varla's lesbian moll, Rosie (Haji) -- who has an extremely overwrought accent -- and reluctant bimbo Billie (Lori Williams) are along for the ride. When they meet a naïve young couple, Tommy and Linda (Ray Barlow and Sue Bernard), Varla challenges the man to a race then kills him by breaking his back. They take Linda hostage and drive to a house owned by a crippled old lecher (Stuart Lancaster) and his muscular but retarded son, Vegetable (Dennis Busch). Varla discovers that the old man has money hidden on the property, so the girls try to find it. Meanwhile, Vegetable's perverted father tries to trick him into assaulting one of the girls as he watches, but his other son (Paul Trinka) finally shows up to save the day. A great deal of bloodshed, campy catfighting, and funny dialogue fills the bulk of this fast-paced comic book of a movie.

Born 1946 Quebec,Canada

Passed on 2013

Birth Name - Barbarella Catton Nickname - Haji

Haji was a Cando-American actress renowned for starring in Russ Meyer's sexploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), in which she made her theatrical film debut. Barbarella Catton was born in Quebec City, Quebec on January 24, 1946, and at the age of 14, began dancing topless. The renamed Haji caught the eye of cinema's "King Leer" while performing as an exotic dancer.

He also cast her as one of three go-go dancers who turn into avenging furies in "Pussycat", which was her theatrical film debut as it was released before Motor Psycho (1965). She also appeared in Meyer's potboiler Good Morning... and Goodbye! (1967), his big budget Hollywood sextravaganza Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), and his cartoonish amalgamation of sex and violence, Supervixens (1975).

Haji died on August 10, 2013 at the age of 67.

Was a fervent supporter of animal rights and environmentalism. Interviewed in the book "Invasion of the B-Girls" by Jewel Shepard. Began as an exotic dancer. Moved to California at the age of fourteen and was discovered by filmmaker Russ Meyer performing in a topless bar. Her only child, a daughter she had at age 15, is named Cerlette. Haji was of British and Filipino descent, and her nickname was bestowed on her by an uncle. Was a friend and co-star of former stripper and long-time Russ Meyer paramour Kitten Natividad.

Haji, an Actress Featured in Cult Films by Russ Meyer, Dies at 67

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK

Published: August 17, 2013

Haji, a voluptuous actress who played one of three homicidal go-go dancers in Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult film “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” died on Aug. 9 in Southern California. She was 67.

Her death was confirmed by the dancer and actress Kitten Natividad, a friend, who said she did not know the cause. She said Haji had high blood pressure and heart problems in recent years and was taken to a hospital after falling ill at a restaurant in Newport Beach.Haji, a brunette of Filipino and British descent, met Meyer, the celebrated B-movie director, in the mid-1960s while she worked in a strip club in California. He cast her as the lead in his biker movie “Motorpsycho” (1965) even though she had no acting experience.Later that year Haji appeared in “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” the tale of three dancers who beat a young man to death, kidnap his girlfriend and flee into the desert. She played the lesbian paramour of the lead character, Varla, played by Tura Satana. The film has acquired a devoted following and has been embraced by the filmmakers John Waters and Quentin Tarantino and even some feminists, including the film critic B. Ruby Rich, who praised it in The Village Voice as a “female fantasy.”“You just didn’t see women taking over and beating up men in those days,” Haji said in an interview posted on Russ Meyer’s Ultravixens, a Web site devoted to Meyer, who died in 2004, and his films. “Russ did something no one else had the imagination to do. And he was smart to use three bodied-up women, so whether the picture’s good or not, you still sort of stare at it.”Haji played a scantily clad bartender in Meyer’s “Supervixens” in 1975 and appeared in “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” the story of an all-woman rock band’s descent into debauchery. It was the first of Meyer’s films produced by a mainstream studio. She also acted in John Cassavetes’s gritty drama “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” in 1976.

Haji was born in Quebec on Jan. 24, 1946. Ms. Natividad said that Haji’s last name at birth was Catton, and that she thought her given name was Cerlette. (The name Haji, she said, was a nickname given to her by an uncle.) Haji left school before finishing the sixth grade and began stripping at 14. She had a daughter, also named Cerlette, at 15. She lived in Oxnard, Calif. Her survivors include her daughter and a granddaughter. Haji’s last screen role was in the 2003 comedy “Killer Drag Queens on Dope.”

www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/haji-an-actress-featured-...;

 

youtu.be/p0kjGOOZZog

 

Go-Go for a wild ride with the action girls! Russ Meyer, the king of exploitation, directs this lurid thrill-ride starring Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams as a trio of dancers who turn to murder and mayhem on a road trip from hell. Varla is well-endowed, beautiful, physically powerful, savvy and conniving. She lives for kicks, but she's also got a serious mad on for the world, and anyone who crosses her finds out the hard way. Her job as a go-go dancer, supplemented by a part time career in petty crime has afforded her a sleek and fast sports car, which she enjoys riding in the desert with her fellow dancers. One of them, Rosie, has a crush on Varla, which she happily encourages, even if Varla is really more interested in the control it gives her over Rosie than in Rosie herself. The other dancer, Billie, is a little harder for Varla to manage, but Billie isn't bright enough to outmaneuver Varla.

 

When the little gang run into a square drag racer, he winds up getting into a fight with Varla, losing of course. Varla makes sure he never talks back again, then kidnaps his girlfriend and makes a run for it. BIllie and Rosie tag along, and they soon become involved in intrigue with an old letch in the desert rumored to have a stash of cash hidden away somewhere. When Varla starts to lose control of the situation, things (again) become violent, leading to a revved-up climax! Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

synopsis

Exploitation maven Russ Meyer created a cult classic with this turbo-charged action film. Three curvaceous go-go dancers in a cool sports car go on a desert crime spree, led by Varla (the amazing Tura Satana), a busty, nasty woman dressed entirely in black. Varla's lesbian moll, Rosie (Haji) -- who has an extremely overwrought accent -- and reluctant bimbo Billie (Lori Williams) are along for the ride. When they meet a naïve young couple, Tommy and Linda (Ray Barlow and Sue Bernard), Varla challenges the man to a race then kills him by breaking his back. They take Linda hostage and drive to a house owned by a crippled old lecher (Stuart Lancaster) and his muscular but retarded son, Vegetable (Dennis Busch). Varla discovers that the old man has money hidden on the property, so the girls try to find it. Meanwhile, Vegetable's perverted father tries to trick him into assaulting one of the girls as he watches, but his other son (Paul Trinka) finally shows up to save the day. A great deal of bloodshed, campy catfighting, and funny dialogue fills the bulk of this fast-paced comic book of a movie.

Born 1946 Quebec,Canada

Passed on 2013

Birth Name - Barbarella Catton Nickname - Haji

Haji was a Cando-American actress renowned for starring in Russ Meyer's sexploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), in which she made her theatrical film debut. Barbarella Catton was born in Quebec City, Quebec on January 24, 1946, and at the age of 14, began dancing topless. The renamed Haji caught the eye of cinema's "King Leer" while performing as an exotic dancer.

He also cast her as one of three go-go dancers who turn into avenging furies in "Pussycat", which was her theatrical film debut as it was released before Motor Psycho (1965). She also appeared in Meyer's potboiler Good Morning... and Goodbye! (1967), his big budget Hollywood sextravaganza Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), and his cartoonish amalgamation of sex and violence, Supervixens (1975).

Haji died on August 10, 2013 at the age of 67.

Was a fervent supporter of animal rights and environmentalism. Interviewed in the book "Invasion of the B-Girls" by Jewel Shepard. Began as an exotic dancer. Moved to California at the age of fourteen and was discovered by filmmaker Russ Meyer performing in a topless bar. Her only child, a daughter she had at age 15, is named Cerlette. Haji was of British and Filipino descent, and her nickname was bestowed on her by an uncle. Was a friend and co-star of former stripper and long-time Russ Meyer paramour Kitten Natividad.

Haji, an Actress Featured in Cult Films by Russ Meyer, Dies at 67

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK

Published: August 17, 2013

Haji, a voluptuous actress who played one of three homicidal go-go dancers in Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult film “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” died on Aug. 9 in Southern California. She was 67.

Her death was confirmed by the dancer and actress Kitten Natividad, a friend, who said she did not know the cause. She said Haji had high blood pressure and heart problems in recent years and was taken to a hospital after falling ill at a restaurant in Newport Beach.Haji, a brunette of Filipino and British descent, met Meyer, the celebrated B-movie director, in the mid-1960s while she worked in a strip club in California. He cast her as the lead in his biker movie “Motorpsycho” (1965) even though she had no acting experience.Later that year Haji appeared in “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” the tale of three dancers who beat a young man to death, kidnap his girlfriend and flee into the desert. She played the lesbian paramour of the lead character, Varla, played by Tura Satana. The film has acquired a devoted following and has been embraced by the filmmakers John Waters and Quentin Tarantino and even some feminists, including the film critic B. Ruby Rich, who praised it in The Village Voice as a “female fantasy.”“You just didn’t see women taking over and beating up men in those days,” Haji said in an interview posted on Russ Meyer’s Ultravixens, a Web site devoted to Meyer, who died in 2004, and his films. “Russ did something no one else had the imagination to do. And he was smart to use three bodied-up women, so whether the picture’s good or not, you still sort of stare at it.”Haji played a scantily clad bartender in Meyer’s “Supervixens” in 1975 and appeared in “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” the story of an all-woman rock band’s descent into debauchery. It was the first of Meyer’s films produced by a mainstream studio. She also acted in John Cassavetes’s gritty drama “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” in 1976.

Haji was born in Quebec on Jan. 24, 1946. Ms. Natividad said that Haji’s last name at birth was Catton, and that she thought her given name was Cerlette. (The name Haji, she said, was a nickname given to her by an uncle.) Haji left school before finishing the sixth grade and began stripping at 14. She had a daughter, also named Cerlette, at 15. She lived in Oxnard, Calif. Her survivors include her daughter and a granddaughter. Haji’s last screen role was in the 2003 comedy “Killer Drag Queens on Dope.”

www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/haji-an-actress-featured-...;

 

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

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BELOW IS A RECAP OF ELECTION DAY/NIGHT FROM ESQUIRE MAGAZINE featuring ROGER STONE.

 

**** Roger Stone, longtime Trump ally: She was just dead in the water. ****

   

On November 8, 2016, America’s chief storytellers—those within the bubbles of media and politics—lost the narrative they had controlled for decades. In a space of 24 hours, the concept of “conventional wisdom” seemed to vanish for good. How did this happen? What follows are over 40 brand new interviews and behind-the-scenes stories from deep inside The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and more—plus first-hand accounts from the campaigns, themselves. We’ve spent a year hearing the spin. Now it’s time for the truth.

 

THE RUN-UP

 

Steve Bannon, Trump campaign CEO: When I first came on the campaign, I said, “You have a hundred-percent chance of winning.” We just got to stick to that plan. Even with Billy Bush, I never wavered for a second.

 

Jim Margolis, Clinton campaign senior adviser: I am normally a glass-half-empty guy when it comes to expectations on election days. This was the first big election where I was absolutely certain we were going to win.

 

Dave Weigel, The Washington Post: I called Jeff Flake the Sunday before the election. I said, “I have one round of questions if Hillary wins, and one if Trump wins.” And he just started laughing, saying, “Why would you bother asking the second one?”

 

Rebecca Traister, New York magazine: We got up around 7 a.m., and there was an electric current running through my body.

 

Ana Marie Cox, Crooked Media, formerly of MTV: I was staying at my in-laws’ place in New York. They’re Trump supporters. They weren’t in town, but my father-in-law made a joking bet with me. He said, “The next time we see each other, there will be a President Trump.” I remember laughing at him.

 

Neal Brennan, comedian/writer: I was at SNL. Chappelle was like, “Dude, I feel like Trump’s gonna win.” I was like, “Dude, I’ll bet you a hundred thousand dollars he won’t win.” He did not take the bet, thankfully.

 

Sen. Tim Kaine, Democratic vice presidential candidate: I thought we would win, but I was more wary than many for the simple reason that the U.S. had never elected a woman president and still has a poor track record of electing women to federal office.

 

Ana Navarro, CNN commentator and Republican strategist: I schlepped my absentee ballot around with me for a month. It was getting pretty beat up inside my bag. I would open it up and look at it every now and then and say, “I’m not ready. I can’t bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton. Please, God, let something happen that I don’t have to do this.”

 

Brian Fallon, Clinton campaign national press secretary: There had been a battleground tracking poll our team had done over the weekend that had us up 4 [points]. We were up in more than enough states to win, taking us over 270. The public polls all showed a similar outlook.

 

Zara Rahim, Clinton campaign national spokeswoman: We were waiting for the coronation. I was planning my Instagram caption.

 

Van Jones, CNN political commentator: The Democrats had this attitude, which I think is very unhealthy and unproductive, that any acknowledgement that Trump had a chance was somehow helping Trump, and that we all had to be on this one accord that it was impossible for him to win. I thought that was stupid. I’ve never seen that strategy work.

 

Matt Oczkowski, formerly of Cambridge Analytica (Trump campaign data firm): When you see outlets like the Huffington Post giving Trump a 1 percent probability of victory, which is not even physically possible, it’s just like, “Wow, people are going to miss this massively.”

 

Roger Stone, longtime Trump ally: She was just dead in the water.

 

Joel Benenson, Clinton campaign chief strategist: I go into the 10 o’clock call and we’re getting reports from the analytics people and the field people. And they finish, and whoever’s leading the call asks if there’s anything else. I said, “Well, yeah, I got a call 20 minutes ago from my daughter in Durham, North Carolina. People are standing on line and aren’t moving, and are now being told they need to vote with paper ballots.” To me, that was the first sign that something was amiss in our boiler room process. That’s essential information. We needed those reports so the legal team would activate. I was stunned, and actually quite nervous. I thought, “Do we even have what we need on the ground to manage election day?”

 

“I MEAN, IT LOOKED LIKE A LANDSLIDE”

 

5 p.m.

 

Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight: When I was coming in on the train at 5 p.m., according to our model, there was one-in-three chance of a Clinton landslide, a one-in-three chance of a close Clinton win, and a one-in-three chance of a Trump win. I was mentally preparing myself for each of those outcomes.

 

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker: I thought about, and actually wrote, an essay about “the first woman president,” and the historical background of it all. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the suffragettes, the relationship with Frederick Douglass…a historical essay, clearly written in a mood of “at long last” and, yes, celebration. The idea was to press “post” on that piece, along with many other pieces by my colleagues at The New Yorker, the instant Clinton’s victory was declared on TV.

 

Bret Baier, Fox News chief political anchor: We got the exit polls at 5 p.m. in a big office on the executive floor. Rupert Murdoch and all the staff were there. It looked like we were going to call the race for Hillary Clinton at 10:30 or 11 p.m.

 

Steve Bannon: The exit polls were horrific. It was brutal. I think we were close in Iowa and Ohio and everything else was just brutal. Losing everywhere. Florida, Pennsylvania. I mean, it looked like a landslide.

 

Ashley Parker, The Washington Post, formerly of The New York Times: The RNC thought they were going to lose. The Trump campaign supporters thought they were going to lose. They were rushing to get their side out of the blame game. I spent part of my day lining up interviews for later that night or the next morning to get their version of events.

 

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, Trump’s religious adviser: I called Sean Hannity and said, “I really think he’s going to win tonight.” Sean said, “Well, I’m glad you do, because the exit polls don’t look good.” I found out later that Trump was very pessimistic, too.

 

Steve Bannon: Jared [Kushner] and I were out on this balcony in Trump Tower. We looked at it on Jared’s iPhone. And the numbers were so bad that we regrouped inside. We look at each other and we go, “This can’t be right. It just can’t.” And Jared goes, “I got an idea, let’s call Drudge.” And Drudge says, “The corporate media—they’ve always been wrong the entire time—these numbers are wrong.”

 

Brian Fallon: I was hearing from my high school principal, people I hadn’t spoken to since college. Everybody is conveying thanks for taking on Trump. It was going to be a cathartic experience of him getting his comeuppance after months of representing something that was so egregious in the eyes of so many people.

 

Rebecca Traister: They were serving, like, $12 pulled pork sandwiches [at the Javits Center]. It was nuts, people were bouncing off the walls. Everyone genuinely believed she was going to win. I don’t know if it made me feel more confident or not.

 

Evan McMullin, Independent candidate: Our election night event was in Salt Lake City. I was drinking Diet Coke and eating hummus and olives.

 

Ana Marie Cox: At the MTV watch party, we had dancers and graffiti artists. There were people giving temporary tattoos. I remember my colleague Jamil Smith and I both bringing up at a meeting, “Hey guys, what if something goes wrong? What if this doesn’t go how we think it’s going to go?” And the answer from some MTV exec was, “We’ll pivot.”

 

Steve Bannon: Drudge snapped us out of it, saying, “You guys are a couple of jamokes. Wait until the second exit polls come out, or later.” We called the candidate and told him what the numbers were and what Drudge had said. And then we said, “Hey, ya know, we left it all on the field. Did everything we can do. Let’s just see how it turns out.”

 

Sen. Tim Kaine: Based on the returns from one bellwether Virginia county I know well, I realized that we would win Virginia by a significantly larger margin than President Obama four years earlier. This was a huge feeling given all the work that Anne and I have done for 30-plus years to help make Virginia more progressive. It struck me for the first time, “I will probably be vice president.” That feeling lasted about 90 minutes.

 

Ashley Parker: I walked over to the Hilton for election night. At some point they rolled in a cake that was like…a life-sized, very impressive rendering of Trump’s head.

 

Melissa Alt, cake artist: I got an order for a Hillary Clinton cake. So, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to make Donald Trump as well.” Just because that would generate a lot of interest. My manager, who has a friend who works for Donald Trump Jr., said, “Let’s contact them and see if they’re interested in having cake.” And obviously they said yes.

 

The Kid Mero, Desus & Mero: I’m surprised a stripper didn’t jump out of the cake.

 

Melissa Alt: I start getting phone calls of people saying, “This is TMZ, or Boston Globe, or People magazine. Do you know that your cake is trending all over the whole internet?”

 

Ashley Parker: I don’t know if I was ever allowed to eat it. It seemed fairly decorative.

 

Melissa Alt: Obviously, I wanted everyone to see it first and then eat it. That cake could probably feed about a hundred.

 

Gary Johnson, Libertarian candidate: I was taken aback by the fact that, at least at the start of the evening, all the networks were showing three names on the screen for the first time, meaning mine and Clinton and Trump. But no, I don’t remember the cake.

 

“I THINK I’M GONNA THROW UP”

 

8 p.m. – 1 a.m.

 

Maggie Haberman, The New York Times: When I went downstairs at 8:15, Hillary was up in Florida. When I came back upstairs, it had flipped. I got a sense the second I set foot in the newsroom that something was going on.

 

Van Jones: You got smoke coming out of every gear trying to figure out what the heck is happening out there. And you’ve got John King who had said, over and over, that there is no pathway for a Trump victory. Suddenly, that whole thing starts to come apart.

 

Roger Stone: I was committed to be an on-air anchor for InfoWars. I think I was on the air for seven hours straight.

 

Steve Bannon: We had taken over the fifth floor of Trump Tower, which had been Corey [Lewandowski]’s original headquarters. It was a concrete floor with no carpeting. They didn’t heat it. It had computers everywhere, guys are tracking everything, we had a chain of command. We called the fifth floor “the crack den.” It looked like a crack den. We put all the maps up and we started getting raw feeds from both our local guys and also the secretary of state of Florida. They were putting up their total vote counts. And [national field director] Bill Stepien was sitting there with all of our modeling. They were really focused on Florida—particularly the Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Also North Carolina was coming in. And obviously Ohio and those states were starting to come in. But the big one we were focused on was Florida. Because if we didn’t win Florida, it was not going to happen.

 

Omarosa Manigault, Trump campaign: If we believed what was on the television, we would have thought we lost. But looking at the numbers that were in front of us in the key battleground states, we were up…or we were neck and neck, with expectations of higher turnout and more enthusiasm. We were going off of our own internal data. What was being shown on CNN and MSNBC and some of these other networks was showing a stark contrast to what was in front of us.

 

Reza Aslan, author and religious scholar: I thought, “Oh my God, how terrible are we that it’s even this close?”

 

Brian Fallon: As I was walking off the risers [at Javits], Jen Epstein, a Bloomberg reporter, grabbed my arm and said, “Are you guys nervous about Florida?” I gave her some sort of verbal shrug. Right after that I called into the boiler room and asked for a gut check.

 

Van Jones: My phone was literally warm from the text messages coming in.

 

Zara Rahim: I had been going back and forth between the venue and backstage. My face was really tense. All of these reporters can read your energy and your face. You never want a reporter to tweet like, “Clinton campaign members are nervous.”

 

Jim Margolis: I finally called Steve Schale, who ran Florida for us in the Obama campaign. I said, “Steve, what’s going on here? Is this just a lack of information?” He said, “I think you’ve got a problem.”

 

Bret Baier: At 8:30 I turned to Chris Wallace, who was sitting next to us on the set, and said, “This does not look like it’s lining up.” We came back from commercial break and Chris said, “Donald Trump could be the next president of the United States.”

 

Jerry Falwell Jr.: My 17-year-old daughter, Caroline, had been following the election. It’s the first time she’s ever followed politics. And she was so nervous about the result that her stomach got upset. She told her brother, “I think I’m gonna throw up.” So he took off his Trump hat and she threw up in it, right next to Laura Ingraham.

 

Felix Biederman, Chapo Trap House: At that point the blue wall hadn’t come in yet, and that’s when the air in the room started to tighten. It was like, “Oh, fuck.” She can still do it, but everything that needs to happen for Trump is happening. What if what’s always happened with Hillary—they did all the work, they know everything, they’re super qualified—what if they didn’t do it? What if they fucked it up?

 

Ana Marie Cox: I did a couple of on-camera news hits where I was told, “What you need to do here is tell people not to panic.” Meanwhile, I was panicking.

 

David Remnick: Not only did I not have anything else ready, I don’t think our site had anything, or much of anything, ready in case Trump won. The mood in the offices, I would say, was frenetic.

 

Dave Weigel: I’m in the parking lot of the Scalise party. There are Republicans drinking, some celebrating, some not paying attention. My editor was calling to see when I would hand in my story. One, I’m on a minor story that’s falling apart, and two, I’m probably in the wrong place. Three, I need to reorder the story, and four, how much did I tell people confidently about the election that I was wrong about?

 

Ashley Parker: We started running up to one another like, “He’s gonna win, he’s gonna win. We know it now, it’s gonna happen.”

 

Desus Nice, Desus & Mero: It’s one thing to find out Donald Trump is president, but another to be on TV with people watching you watch Donald Trump become president.

 

Michael Barbaro, The New York Times: Carolyn Ryan, who was the politics editor, pulled me aside and said, “I need you to be involved in a ‘Trump Wins’ story.”

 

Matt Flegenheimer, The New York Times: Michael and I build this thing out together into a fully sweeping and historical news story. Maybe 1,500 words. We lock ourselves in this little glass office in the Times building and try to tune out the unstoppable din of the newsroom.

 

Steve Bannon: Jared came down and the candidate was upstairs. Then when word got out that Florida was competitive, that it was gonna be real, he came down to the 14th floor, the headquarters, where we had what we called the war room, which had multiple TVs running. And so what we did is we moved the data analysis thing that we had up to the 14th floor. And I went over with Stepien and the others and just stood next to the candidate and walked him through what was going on. And he finally took a seat. And we sat there and watched everything come in.

 

Jacob Soboroff, MSNBC correspondent: I went from this feeling of, “Oh my god, wow. I can’t believe it,” to, in a matter of seconds, “Oh, whoa, I can totally believe it.”

 

Steve Bannon: Stepien looked at it and said, “Our spread is too big, they can’t recover from this.” Miami-Dade and Broward were coming back really slow. They were clearly holding votes back, right? And then Stepien looked at me and said, “We have such a big lead now. They can’t steal it from us.

 

“I FELT SO ALONE, I KNEW IT WAS DONE”

 

Ashley Parker: I received a frantic call from Mike Barbaro, so I was racing around the ballroom getting quotes and feeding them back to the story.

 

Joshua Green, Bloomberg Businessweek correspondent and Devil’s Bargain author: At 9:05 p.m. I sent Bannon an email and said, “Holy shit, you guys are gonna win, aren’t you?” He sent a one word reply: “Yes.”

 

Dave Weigel: I had told my parents, who are Clinton supporters—my dad actually knew Clinton growing up as he’s from the same town in Illinois she is. I texted him early in the night saying, “These Florida counties seem to be going the way they usually go.” But once I realized there was no way for Clinton to win, I called them saying, “I’m sorry, this is what I do for a living and I was wrong.” My dad said, “Well, I’m still holding out hope.” And I said, “Don’t bother. Process this, and figure out what you’re going to do next, because it’s not going to happen.”

 

Trae Crowder, comedian and author: I felt very mad at liberals, you know, like my team. I was very upset with all of us for a lot of reasons.

 

Rebecca Traister: I felt so alone, I knew it was done. I was by myself on the floor. I started to cry.

 

David Remnick: That night I went to a friend’s election-night party. As Clinton’s numbers started to sour, I took my laptop out, got a chair, found a corner of that noisy room, and started thinking and writing. That was what turned out to be “An American Tragedy.”

 

Steve Bannon: As soon as we got Florida, I knew we were gonna win. Because Florida was such a massive lift for us, right? We were so outstaffed. But then we won Florida. Just made me know that the rest of the night was going to go well.

 

Maggie Haberman: I started texting some of the Trump people and one of them wrote back, “Say it with me: ‘President Trump. President Trump.’”

 

“CAN WE STAY IN THE U.S.?”

 

Zara Rahim: A member of senior leadership came, and I’ll never forget him looking at us and saying, essentially, “If she doesn’t win Michigan and Wisconsin, Donald Trump will be president-elect.” That was the first time I heard those words.

 

Jim Margolis: The tenor had changed completely. People were very nervous in the room, we’re all talking to each other. I’m going back and forth with [Clinton campaign manager] Robby Mook, who is over at the hotel. We’re on the phone with some of the states that are still out there, trying to understand what is taking place in Wisconsin and Michigan, because those numbers are softer than they ought to be. That’s beginning to weigh very heavily.

 

Rebecca Traister: I was thinking everything from, “I’m gonna have to rewrite my piece” to, “Can we stay in the U.S.?” I texted my husband, “Tell Rosie to go to bed. I don’t want her to watch.”

 

Roger Stone: The staff at InfoWars is largely people in their late 20s, early 30s, all of whom are interested in politics, but none of whom would consider themselves an expert. So they would look to me and say, “Well, are we going to win or not?” And I said, “Yes, we’re going to win.”

 

Matt Flegenheimer: Michael Grynbaum—who covers media—we had been following the Upshot percentages on the race. We were trying to get our heads around it. If it’s 75 percent, two coin flips, Donald Trump’s president. You had dynamic, shifting odds on the meter. Maybe it’s one coin flip. Maybe it’s half a coin flip. At some point, when I was in that little room with Michael Barbaro, Grynbaum comes in, takes a quarter, slams it down on the middle of the desk. Doesn’t say a word. Just walks out. I still have that quarter in my wallet.

 

David Remnick: Obviously, we were not going to press “post” until a result had been announced. So I made some revisions, came across a quotation from George Orwell, played around with various sentences, but all in a kind of strange state of focus that happens only once in a while.

 

Steve Bannon: We stayed there until I want to say about 11 o’clock, 11:30, after Florida got called. It looked like others were coming our way, that we were obviously gonna win. That’s when we went upstairs to the residence, to the penthouse. In hindsight, we still had two and a half hours to go, because they didn’t call it ‘til like 2:30 in the morning.

 

Symone Sanders, Strategist for Priorities USA: Omarosa called [into MTV] saying, “It’s a good night over here at Trump Tower.” She’s like, “I knew Donald Trump would be the president. I told everyone months ago. And the day is here!” I was just dumbfounded.

 

Neal Brennan: Slowly but surely it dawns on us. And I had said things like, “You know, I’ve heard that technically Republicans can never win another presidential election.” I’m just saying dumb shit, all things I’d read on Politico or fuckin’ The Atlantic or whatever. And then slowly but surely it happens. It’s like we…it…fucking Hillary lost.

 

Van Jones: I picked up my pen and I wrote down two words: “parents” and “whitelash.”

 

Jeffrey Lord, former CNN political commentator: People get so obsessed with the race thing.

 

Ana Marie Cox: I happen to be in recovery. I had a moment of, like, “Why the fuck not?” I went on Twitter and said, “To those of us ‘in the room’ together, he’s not worth it. Don’t drink over this.” And the response I got was amazing. I said, “I’m going to a meeting tomorrow. Everyone get through this 24 hours, get to a meeting, we’re not alone.”

 

Evan McMullin: I looked at my staffers. In my mind’s eye, they were all seated up against this wall. They were disappointed, they were afraid, all of that. I told them that I didn’t want to see any long faces. I told them to buck up. And it had no effect.

 

Van Jones: I literally said, “This was many things. This was a rebellion against elites, it was a complete reinvention of politics and polls. And it was also about race.” But the “whitelash” comment became this big, big thing. What’s interesting about it is, I’m black, my wife is not. She and I were talking about what was happening in Europe. And I said, “The backlash is coming here.” She said, “Yeah, it’ll be a whitelash here.” That was in the back of my mind. People think I made that term up on the spot. It’s very rare you can put two syllables together and make the entire case.

 

Jeffrey Lord: I thought he was wrong. While Van and I disagree, he’s a curious and sensible soul. I thought at some point he would come to a different conclusion.

 

“WHAT’S OBAMA THINKING?”

 

1 a.m. – 3 a.m.

 

Melissa Alt: People were texting me the whole night, just congratulations on the cake. That was funny because the night turned out so different than I expected. Who knew cake could generate so much hype?

 

Bret Baier: The futures markets had taken a nosedive, so we were covering that aspect of things. Fortunately, we had Maria Bartiromo on the set, who looked at the numbers and said, “Well, I would think this is a buying opportunity, because if you look at policy, tax cuts, regulation roll back, and everything else, that’s probably going to mean the market turning around when businesses weigh in.” That turned out to be pretty prescient.

 

Ana Marie Cox: A Muslim colleague of mine called his mother. She was worried he was going to be the victim of violence at any moment. A colleague who is gay and married was on the phone with her wife saying, “They’re not going to take this damn ring away from me.”

 

Van Jones: I had Muslim friends who came from countries like Somalia asking, “Should we leave the country tonight?” Because in their countries of origin, if a president that hostile takes power, they might start rounding up people in the morning.

 

David Remnick: Jelani [Cobb] and I spoke around midnight. We were both, let’s put it this way, in the New Yorker mode of radical understatement, disappointed. Jelani’s disappointment extended to his wondering whether he should actually leave the country. He wasn’t kidding around. I could tell that from his voice.

 

Gary Johnson: Well, I was really disappointed at the results. But what I came to very quickly was, as I’ve said many, many, many, times, if I wasn’t elected president, I was going to ski a hundred-plus days and I was also going to ride the Continental Divide bike race.

 

Jill Stein, Green Party candidate: Did I have remorse about running? Absolutely not. I have remorse about the misery people are experiencing under Democrats and Republicans both.

 

Neal Brennan: That’s sketch-writing night at SNL. So all the writers are crestfallen, and it was up to us to write comedy for that Saturday. Me and [Colin] Jost wrote the sketch where Dave [Chappelle] is watching the election, and Chris Rock shows up and everyone’s bawling. It was based on the experience of being in Jost’s office and me saying incredibly stupid shit as reality crumbled.

 

Ashley Nicole Black, writer/correspondent, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee: We all went into a room and sat in silence for at least five minutes. The conversation wasn’t like, “What is it going to be in the country?” It was like, okay, “We’re at work. We have a show tomorrow. What are we going to do?” And Sam goes, “I think this is my fault.” It’s Sam’s first time voting in an American election, and she told us how the first time she was on Law & Order, Law & Order got canceled the next day. And she got interviewed by Playboy, and the next day they announced they were no longer doing nudity. And now she voted for the first time and broke America. We all laughed, it broke the tension in the room. Then we started writing Act 1 with that idea in mind.

 

Rep. Adam Schiff, congressman, 28th District of California: I was at a victory party for my campaign at the Burbank Bar and Grill. And it was the most somber and depressing victory party I’d ever had.

 

Brian Fallon: Eventually there were conversations around the awkwardness. There started to be this pressure to concede even before AP called the race.

 

Nate Silver: I felt like if the roles had been reversed, and if Clinton had been winning all of these states, that they wouldn’t have been so slow to call it. In some ways, the slowness to call it reflected the stubbornness the media had the whole time about realizing that, actually, it was a pretty competitive election.

 

Jerry Falwell Jr.: The crowd at the Trump party was really aggravated because Megyn Kelly didn’t want to call it. She was so hopeful that Trump would lose. She let hours go by. Finally, the crowd started chanting, “Call it! Call it! Call it!”

 

Bret Baier: There was a growing group of people who had gathered outside Fox News who obviously were Trump supporters. They were going crazy.

 

Zara Rahim: There was a massive garage behind the Javits center. John Podesta stood up on a box and told us, “We will have more information for you soon,” which is the most frustrating thing to hear in that moment. Everybody was in this big circle of sadness and nobody knew what to do. Leadership didn’t know what to do. We were all at a loss.

 

Jon Favreau, Crooked Media, former Obama speechwriter: We were in a constant text chain with our buddies in the White House, asking, “What’s going on? What’s the boss thinking? What’s Obama thinking?” And finally they told us, “Oh, he just talked to her and he thinks she should concede and she agrees. She’s just waiting for the right moment.”

 

Jerry Falwell Jr.: I called the president-elect. He said, “Well, why don’t you come over to Trump Tower, you and your family, and watch the returns with us?” And I said, “I don’t want to do that, because by the time I get over there, you’re going to be coming over here to do your victory speech.” And he said, “All right, whatever.”

 

Matt Paul, chief of staff to VP candidate Tim Kaine: Senator Kaine, when the news became very grim…the senator actually went to bed. Nothing was going to happen that night. He had to put together a different type of speech.

 

Brian Fallon: I was on the phone with the decision desk people at AP, trying to glean a sense of their confidence about the numbers in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. I knew that when those got called, it was ball game, so I was trying to impart to them what we were hearing about what precincts might still be outstanding. We were also trying to gauge if they were about to call it, if and when she should speak.

 

Michael Barbaro: We really labored over a few paragraphs and a few words, just capturing the enormity of a Trump victory. That it wasn’t expected. The messages the campaign had run on, what they would suddenly mean for the country. And it was a real challenge to convey all of the things he had said and done in the campaign, and all the controversies that he had sparked and put those into the context of a traditional, sweeping, “This person has just been elected president of the United States,” New York Times story.

 

Matt Flegenheimer: I think after 1 o’clock we had our final version and we were ready to press the button on “Trump Just Won.” It did make the last edition of the print paper.

 

Michael Barbaro: There was so much going on that night and so many last-minute changes and such a hectic schedule that the story was published with the wrong bylines. The historic front page, “Trump Triumphs,” ran in the paper with the wrong bylines.

 

Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker: I saw the New York Times headline and I was very discomforted by it. For one, I knew that I had a child on the way.

 

Maggie Haberman: I was supposed to go on a CNN panel at 2 a.m., they were doing a very early version of New Day. I got stuck because of a deadline anyway, so it worked out I couldn’t make it, which I felt bad about. In reality, I wasn’t prepared to talk about it. I couldn’t really understand what had happened. And I think images of gobsmacked reporters probably wouldn’t have helped.

 

Michael Barbaro: We’re all sitting around and we’re all doing what journalists do after a big story, which is talk about it endlessly. I don’t think any of us wanted to go home. I don’t think any of us wanted to go off into the private space of figuring out what this all means. This gravitational pull kept us there much later than we needed to be.

 

Reza Aslan: My wife stayed up and I went to sleep, then she woke me up around 1 or 2 in the morning bawling and told me that it was over. My poor, sweet wife. She wanted to hug and kiss me but I went into a panic attack and couldn’t breathe.

 

David Remnick: We agreed that night, and we agree today, that the Trump presidency is an emergency. And in an emergency, you’ve got a purpose, a job to do, and ours is to put pressure on power. That’s always the highest calling of journalism, but never more so than when power is a constant threat to the country and in radical opposition to its values and its highest sense of itself.

 

Brian Fallon: We had this issue where the Javits Center needed us out by 3 a.m. The decision was made that someone had to come out and address the crowd.

 

Zara Rahim: There were die-hard Hillary supporters that were like, “We’re not going.” Folks who were sobbing and literally couldn’t move because they were so distraught. I remember pieces of memorabilia on the floor, little Hillary pins and “I believe that she will win” placards.

 

Rebecca Traister: People were throwing up. People were on the floor crying.

 

Steve Bannon: We had an agreement with these guys. Robby Mook had sent this email saying, you know, “When AP calls it, we’ll call and congratulate you right away.” Because they were expecting Trump to keep saying, “It’s rigged, it’s rigged.” So Robby Mook sent a thing over which I’m sure he regrets. [Laughs]. He sent an email to us, he said, 15 minutes after AP calls it, they would expect to hear from us. If they hadn’t heard from us, she would get up to give a victory speech. I think AP called it right when we left.

 

Roger Stone: We figured they had her in a straitjacket by then. Or that she was throwing things and cursing.

 

“LET’S GO ONSTAGE AND GET THIS DONE”

 

Bret Baier: It was around 2:30 in the morning, and I said, “Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States.” This whiz-bang graphic with all of these firework animations flashed across the screen with the words Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States. Just seeing that, everybody on the set was silent for a little bit, as the whole thing was being digested.

 

Stephen L. Miller, conservative blogger: The Onion headline kept flashing through my head really heavy. During the primaries they had the Trump story, “You really want to see how far this goes, don’t you America?”

 

Jorge Ramos, Univision news anchor: When he won, I said it as if I was reporting a football score or a soccer match. “Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States.” No emotion. Just the facts. That’s what the audience demanded. That is a sign of respect. As a journalist you have to report reality as it is, not as you wish it would be. That’s exactly what I was doing.

 

Jeffrey Lord: It was an amazing moment. Anderson [Cooper] came over to me and, in his classy fashion, shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, you were right.”

 

Steve Bannon: When it was called, he was actually upstairs in the kitchen. He has a small kitchen with a television. When he heard it was being called by AP, I shook his hand and said, “Congratulations, Mr. President.” So we kinda laughed. There were no big hugs or anything. Nothing crazy. He’s not a guy who gets overly excited. He’s very controlled. People around him are very controlled. We were obviously very happy and ecstatic. But it’s not a bunch of jumping around, high-fiving, anything like that.

 

Matt Oczkowski: It almost felt like a videogame, like you were playing something and won. You’re like, “Wow, this is the presidency of the United States.”

 

Roger Stone: The champagne tasted great. This was the culmination of a dream that I’d had since 1988.

 

Jim Margolis: I was on with Robby [Mook], who was in the room with her when she did the concession call to Trump. It was surreal. It was beyond my imagination that we would be in this position with this person being elected president.

 

Steve Bannon: It only took us 10 minutes to get there, it was right down the street. When we got there, we were in this weird holding stage, kind of off to the side. Very crammed. She called the president on his phone. Or it might have been Huma Abedin called Kellyanne [Conway] and then she hands her phone off to the president, and then Secretary Clinton was on there, you know, “Hey, Donald, congratulations, hard-fought win.” Two or three minutes. Then we looked at each other and said, “Let’s go onstage and get this done.”

 

Roger Stone: He looked surprised at the fact that he’d won. Which is surprising only because he pretty consistently thought he would win. Not unhappy, but rather, shocked.

 

Neal Brennan: I thought it was so fucking weird that he was like, “Is Jim here? Come on up here.” Like he was emceeing a sports banquet. But it was good that he set the tone right there. So long, context. So long, history.

 

Joshua Green: I thought he had actually made at least a cursory effort to try to unite the country by reaching out to Hillary Clinton voters. That sentiment probably evaporated before the sun rose the next day. At least on election night he said something approximating what you would expect a normal presidential victor to say in a moment like that, to try and bring the country together.

 

Symone Sanders: I still couldn’t believe it was happening. When he talked about us coming together and healing for the country, I wanted to throw up in my mouth.

 

“YOU’RE FUCKED”

 

3 a.m. – 7 a.m.

 

Maggie Haberman: I was getting bewildered texts from my child who couldn’t sleep, asking me what happened. I think this election was really difficult for kids to process.

 

Matt Paul: It was fucking terrible. We had these hastily organized calls every 10 minutes to determine what was going to happen the next morning. There was no advanced plan. Where were we going to do this massive global television event? How were we going to get people in the room? Who was going to say what in what order? That happened between 4 in the morning and when she spoke.

 

Rebecca Traister: In the cab home, the cabbie had on the news, that’s when I heard his acceptance speech, and I said, “Can you turn it off?” I couldn’t hear his voice. I was like, “I can’t listen to his voice for the next four years.”

 

Desus Nice: I went home, and it was like when your team loses and you watch it on SportsCenter over and over and over. I turned on MSNBC, and Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow were asking, “How’d you get this wrong? How did Nate Silver get this wrong? What did Hillary do?” I kept turning to Fox News and seeing them gloat and the balloons falling. I think I stayed up until three in the morning just drinking and watching.

 

The Kid Mero: I went home and smoked myself to sleep. I was like, “This sucks.”

 

Ashley Nicole Black: I took a shower, and then as soon as water hit me, I started bawling. I didn’t really have any feelings until that moment.

 

Ashley Parker: Times Square felt like a zombie-apocalypse movie. There was no one there. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I walked from the ballroom to the newsroom. They were like, “Go home, get some sleep, you’ll need it.” I walked back to my hotel. I couldn’t sleep. I watched cable news and then fell asleep.

 

Van Jones: I was walking out the building. Your thumb just kind of automatically switches over to Twitter. I saw that my name was trending worldwide. And I was like, “Whoa, that’s weird.”

 

Brian Fallon: I stayed in Brooklyn throughout the campaign, but that night I got a hotel in Midtown, close to the Peninsula. I actually walked past his hotel. I saw all the red hats that were still milling about outside of his victory party. It was pretty surreal.

 

Ashley Nicole Black: I looked at myself—I’m going to cry even saying this right now—I looked at myself in the mirror, and in that moment, I looked like my grandmother. The first thought I had was that I was glad that she wasn’t alive to see that. Then I felt so guilty because of course nothing would ever make me glad my grandmother is not alive. I love her so much, and I wish she was here. But she died when Obama was president, with that hope that the world had moved forward, and black people had moved forward. And she didn’t see the huge backlash that came after. In that moment, I was very grateful, and then guilty, and then I went to bed.

 

Jorge Ramos: I’ve been to wars, I’ve covered the most difficult situations in Latin America. But I needed to digest and to understand what had happened. I came home very late. I turned on the news. I had comfort food—cookies and chocolate milk—the same thing I used to have as a kid in Mexico City. After that, I realized that I had been preparing all my life for this moment. Once I digested what had happened with Trump and had a plan, which was to resist and report and not be neutral, then I was able to go to bed.

 

Rebecca Traister: I got back to Park Slope, I went to check on the girls. When I went to say goodnight, I looked at Rosie, and I had this conscious thought that this is the day that will divide our experience of what is possible. This is the day where a limitation is reinforced for her.

 

Michael Barbaro: I went home and woke up my husband, I think it was 4 or 5 in the morning, and asked him what the next steps should be journalistically. Should I move to Washington? Should I change jobs? It was pretty disorienting.

 

Maggie Haberman: One Trump supporter sent me a message saying, “You’re fucked.” [Laughs] If you use that, please recall me laughing about it. It was really something.

 

Van Jones: I got to my apartment and put my head down. I woke up like three, four hours later. And in my mind I thought, it was a dream. Just for a split second. I was still fully clothed. I had makeup all over my pillow. And I was like, “Shit.”

 

“IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST SPEECHES SHE’S EVER GIVEN”

 

7 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

 

Jon Favreau: It felt like when you wake up after someone close to you passes away. Not nearly as bad, obviously, but that same feeling where you think, for like five seconds, you’re okay, maybe it’s a normal morning, and then it hits you what happened.

 

Roger Stone: I mean, we were walkin’ on clouds. We were still in the halo of the whole thing. I was very pleased.

 

Jerry Falwell Jr.: The feeling afterward was relief. I had worked so hard to help him. I’d risked so much and went so far out on a limb. Everybody thought I was crazy. It was a renewed hope for the future of the country, and a little bit of fear that I was going to be chosen to serve in the administration, because I didn’t want to.

 

Steve Bannon: I had my whole family that had come up to the victory party and I hadn’t seen anybody, so I went home and grabbed a shower, just like the night before, got another hour of sleep, and I was with Jared. And I think we were with Trump at like 8 in the morning. So it was just like the exact same thing as the day before. The day before I felt we were gonna win the presidency, and the next day we had won the presidency. It was odd, there was never any big insurgent feeling or anything like that. It played out how I thought it would play out. I didn’t have much doubt the first day of the campaign, didn’t really have much doubt on Billy Bush weekend. He was connecting. He had a powerful message.

 

Reza Aslan: I remember thinking, as clear as day, this is who we are. This is what we deserve.

 

Shani O. Hilton, U.S. news editor, BuzzFeed News: You get on the train from Brooklyn. It’s silent. And not in the normal way of people not talking to each other. It felt like an observable silence. I saw at least three people sitting by themselves, just weeping silently.

 

Melissa Alt: The next day my manager took the cake back to Trump Tower because they didn’t cut it at election night. Donald Trump Jr. told my friend that it was delicious.

 

Matt Paul: I remember rolling up in the motorcade and seeing some of our staff and organizers couldn’t get in. A reporter or cameraperson who was familiar to me said, “Can I sneak in with you?” I looked at that person, sort of stunned, and said, “Fuck no.” Then I realized I shouldn’t have said that. It was just a visceral, gut reaction to seeing some of our staff that couldn’t get in who had killed themselves for two years.

 

Nate Silver: If you read FiveThirtyEight throughout the election and listened to our arguments with other journalists and reporters, then you would’ve been much better prepared and much less surprised by the outcome.

 

The Kid Mero: We very quickly became familiar with the term “economic anxiety.”

 

Reza Aslan: You take your kids to school, you go to the store, you go to the post office, you’re looking around, and you’re thinking, “These people hate me.”

 

Jelani Cobb: I went to the airport the next morning for a 7 a.m. flight. There’s an African-American gentleman, maybe in his 60s, working at the check-in counter. He starts talking about how disastrous and dangerous this moment’s going to be. And he’s seen history in the South and thinking that we might be headed back toward the things he thought were in the past.

 

Dave Weigel: I was connecting through the Atlanta airport. I looked around and thought, well, for eight years, I didn’t really think about who voted for who. But as a white dude with a mustache, fairly bloated by the campaign, most of the people who look like me voted for this guy who, as far as they know, is a bigot. I remember feeling that this divider had come down, this new intensity of feeling about everybody I saw.

 

Van Jones: The next day, my commentary had become this sort-of viral sensation. Fox News is mad at me for saying “whitelash.” Liberals are treating me as some kind of hero. And literally, for the next two weeks, I didn’t have to pay for anything in any establishment in D.C. or New York. Not one meal. Not one cab. Uber people would turn the thing off and just drive me around for free.

 

Joshua Green: Bannon called me. He said, “You recognize what happened?” I’m like, “What the fuck are you talking about?” He goes, “You guys,” meaning you on the left, “you fell into the same trap as conservatives in the ‘90s…you were so whipped up in your own self-righteousness about how Americans could never vote for Trump that you were blinded to what was happening.” He was right.

 

Matt Paul: There were five or six of us standing in a hold room. One of Hillary’s brothers was there with his wife. A couple of the president’s people. Myself. A couple of campaign photographers. President Clinton walked in. It was very tough. Secretary Clinton walked in and was strong and composed. I stood there in shock at how put together and strong she was.

 

Rebecca Traister: As someone who covered her in 2008 and watched her struggle with speechgiving, it was one of the best speeches she’s ever given.

 

Jim Margolis: Everybody was basically in tears. Huma was in front of me. Jake [Sullivan] was on one side. It was one of those incredible scenes. Nobody had had any sleep.

 

Steve Bannon: Never watched it. Couldn’t care less. Her, Podesta, all of it. I thought they were overrated. I thought they were—they’re a media creation. People say how genius they were, how brilliant they were. Look, I’d never been on a campaign in my life. But I can understand math. Just looking at where it was gonna come down to. Morning Joe tells me they’re so brilliant every day. Why are they not getting some pretty fundamental stuff here? But no, I had no interest in seeing her concession speech. I have no interest in a damn thing with their campaign because I don’t think they knew what they were doing. I only have interest in what we did. Which was just, focus, focus, focus.

 

Rep. Adam Schiff: My staff both in California and in D.C. were absolutely devastated. People would come up to me, constituents and others, with tears in their eyes. And the astounding thing is, here we are now. People continue to come up to me with tears in their eyes about what he’s doing. I’ve never seen people have a visceral reaction over an election and be so deeply alarmed at what’s happening to the country.

 

Charles P. Pierce, Esquire writer at large: On the Sunday before the election, I drove out from Philadelphia to Gettysburg. Once I got out of the sprawling Philadelphia exurbs, I started to see improvised signs. There were several of those small portable marquees that you see outside clam shacks and chili parlors. I saw a huge piece of plywood nailed to a tree outside a motorcycle repair shop. I saw an entire barn painted red, white, and blue. “Trump,” it said, on the side of the barn. “Make America Great Again.” And I could see that barn, out in the field, in my mind’s eye, as Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her belated concession speech. And when she talked about making the American Dream available to everyone, I thought, damn, somebody had to want it bad to paint a whole barn just to argue about that.

 

Roger Stone: Trump is a winner. He’s a very confident, upbeat guy. That’s just his style. He thought all along that he would win. There’s no doubt that the Billy Bush thing shook him a little bit, but it ended up not being determinative.

 

Jerry Falwell Jr.: We had traveled on the plane with him during the campaign. He went and got the Wendy’s cheeseburgers and the fries, put them out on the table for us. I just think he’s a people’s president. I think that’s something we’ve not had in a real long time.

 

Gary Johnson: Well for me, just speaking personally, I do not aspire to be president of the United States anymore. Why would anybody want to be president of the United States now that Donald Trump’s been president of the United States?

   

##########

 

from Roger Stone – Stone Cold Truth stonecoldtruth.com/untold-stories-of-election-day-2016/

 

rogerstone1.wordpress.com/2017/11/13/untold-stories-of-el...

via

 

“Exfoliate until your ass is red,” says Reagan, a dancer at Sassy’s on Southeast Morrison. Reagan’s mother was a stripper, so she comes by her knowledge naturally. “Don’t be shy. Just scrub your ass off.”

 

Stripping is hard work. Regardless of what movies like Showgirls andFlashdance would have us believe, it’s not all Cristal and getting swept off one’s feet by a rich businessman.

 

“It’s exhausting, both physically and mentally,” says Maybe, who, like Reagan, is a four-year veteran with time at Sassy’s, Union Jack’s and Magic Garden. “I’ve had to take some breaks to do other things just to recharge.”

 

Much of the blood, sweat and tears of exotic dancing goes into the backstage beauty routine.

 

After sitting down with Reagan and Maybe at Sassy’s on a slow Monday afternoon, I am convinced that women the world over should drop their Vogueand Allure subscriptions and turn to strip-club dressing rooms for beauty tips. If you have a question about makeup application, hair removal or product selection, chances are very good Reagan and Maybe could answer it.

 

“I have very sensitive skin, so I can only use natural products,” Reagan says. “Heavy makeup really takes its toll, especially if it’s full of chemicals. You can break out and it irritates your eyes. I’m all about the natural stuff. Tarte, mostly, which I buy at Sephora.”

 

Reagan has a fair complexion and curly red hair. Before her shift at Sassy’s, she usually takes a bath and lets her long locks air dry.

 

“I don’t style it much or use a lot of sprays or anything and men really seem to like that,” she says. “I get the ‘you look like a mermaid’ comment a lot.”

 

She’s allergic to perfume, so she counts on her coconut shampoo and rose soap to do the trick.

 

“I know some girls who pour on the perfume or bathe in cheap, Fruit Loop-scented body spray, but my customers say they like how fresh I am,” Reagan says. “They’re glad I don’t smell like a lollipop.”

 

“I learned the oil thing from watching a soft core porno when I was 17,” Maybe says. “Two girls were in a bathtub and they were shaving each other and they used baby oil, I think. But I’m a hippie so I use coconut oil and it’s wonderful. No red bumps.”

 

Maybe likes to take an Epsom salts bath on work days to keep her skin supple. She shaves her upper thighs against the grain (bikini line with the grain, upper thigh against) and applies her favorite perfume, Calvin Klein Euphoria. Then she straightens her wavy hair. If it’s going to be a busy night, she adds extensions for extra flare.

 

“Sometimes it’s fun to have super long hair,” she says. “At first I was really timid about the extensions. I’d hold my head all stiff and was worried when I was on the pole they’d get caught in my armpit and rip out, but now I know they’re not that delicate and I have fun with them.”

 

Prior to hitting the stage at Sassy’s, Maybe uses bronzer to accentuate her cheekbones and highlighter to freshen up her eyes. She gets her nails done about once a week and sometimes dons false eyelashes, which Reagan eschews, unless she has a photo shoot.

 

“You lose two to three lashes every time you wear them,” Reagan says, “and they take months to grow back.”

 

She isn’t against a little glitter, however. “The whole guys don’t like strippers who wear glitter’ thing is a myth,” she says. “Dudes get their beer goggles on and suddenly they’re raccoons. They’re like, ‘Oooh, something shiny!'”

 

Reagan turns to Triiangleh, a young German Instagram star with more than 30,000 followers, for other eye-makeup do’s and don’ts.

 

“Check this out,” she says. “She’s got these tutorials on everything, eye shadow, liner, mascara. I’ve really stepped up my eye makeup game thanks to her.”

 

Reagan also credits her clean diet—she doesn’t eat dairy or gluten—with helping her get into the best shape of her life. And she doesn’t have to worry about reapplying deodorant between sets. “That’s another bonus of eating clean: You can pretty much eliminate your body odor. It’s a miracle, really.”

 

Another challenge comes from Sassy’s strict no-lotion policy. Lotion is banned since it can make the pole a dangerous place. Reagan found this out the hard way a few years ago when she slipped and injured her shoulder.

 

“You get used to having dry skin,” Reagan says. “We have a joke here, that we’re all alligators, not just because our skin can get dry but because we have callouses in weird places from the pole, like the insides of our thighs, behind our armpits, down our sides.”

 

Ever consider buffing them off? “No way,” she says. “They’re necessary. They’re a defense.”

 

Both Reagan and Maybe get their exercise at the pole. It’s also where they’ve learned to love their bodies. “Getting naked in front of strangers in an intimate setting like this has made me more comfortable with myself,” Reagan says. “I didn’t use to have very high self-esteem. I was really socially anxious, and I felt bad because I didn’t have porn-star teardrop tits, but now I know, men don’t care. They just like boobs. They just want to look at them.

 

To get your plastic stripper shoes to fit, use a hair dryer to heat up the material. It will then mold to your foot. And always wear shoes with straps. Every dancer has a story of hitting a customer in the face with her strapless shoe. If you’re having trouble pulling on stubborn, tight shoes, a little baby powder will help.

Speaking of baby stuff, baby wipes help keep you smelling nice between sets. If your private arena is on the sensitive side, wipes PH-balanced for women are also available.

Shave with oil rather than cream, you’ll be less prone to angry red bumps. And if you missed the notice from Seventeen magazine as a tween, shave your legs against the grain but your bikini line with it.

Keep your skin supple with Epsom salts baths. Skip the lotion, though, unless you feel like turning the pole into a slippery lube tube.

Consider a little glitter, no matter the stigma against it. Remember, you’re not primping for a middle-school dance.

You might think stripping while on your period would be a no-no, but men are like bears. And sharks. They might not know it, but they love the smell of blood. And ovulation. Dancers take home a lot of tips during their time of the month.

   

The post Stripper Beauty Tips appeared first on Exotic Dancers Strippers Topless Waitress.

 

www.dreamgrl.com/stripper-beauty-tips/

Powwows are physically and mentally demanding, high-energy events for participants. I can totally relate to this man's attempt to steal a few seconds of shut-eye-on-the-fly before his next event.

 

Many people drive long distances, often overnight, then perform at the evening opener, and again usually several times the following day. Some then pile themselves and their elaborate, valuable, and fragile, regalia back into their vehicles and head home, with almost no rest for the weary.

 

47th Annual Montana State University American Indian Council Powwow, April 1, 2023

Ray was part of a Chicago street-theater

hip-hop gymnastics kind of troupe giving a

free show on Venice Beach. He was the leader,

and as such he was very physically impressive -

an amazing dancer - and also very funny.

 

Their show, which I watched twice

on a warm cool

Saturday afternoon on the boardwalk with my

beamish boy, Joshua,

started with each member of the

six-member team doing some cool

dance moves - spinning around, grinding,

bumping, gyrating. Then they picked some

volunteers from the audience, lined them

all up - and then went through a long

and fairly funny campaign to get as much

cash from the audience before the big finale.

If they would get more than a one-dollar bill,

they would announce it: "I just got a FIVE!" From

who? "From a rich Mexican guy!" etc.

 

Then after milking the crowd for as much

money as they could, Ray would back way up,

parting the crowd as he went. "Now you are

going to see a black man run fast," they

announced in comic unison, "without the

police chasing him!"

 

Then Ray ran as fast as he can, flipped

in the air, and flew over the seven lined

up people. Actually it was six and a half -

as they got a kid.

 

Second time we saw the act, they chose

Joshua to be a part of the line. Though he's

usually quite extroverted, being propelled into

this beach-street-theater made him feel shy,

and as he walked up to Ray and the gang, he

plunged his hands into the pockets of his

orange shorts.

 

"How old are you?" Ray asked him.

"Six," he said very softly and meekly.

"That's how old I was when I was your age,"

Ray said. The crowd laughed, but I could tell

Joshie didn't have a clue why that would be funny.

 

"I've got to tell you something," Ray said to him.

"I'm your real father."

 

Again the crowd laughed,

but again Josh looked blankly at him. (Later Joshie

asked me to explain why this was funny. I tried and

failed. )

Then the

routine proceeded, and ultimately Ray

launched his lithe body into the air and over

Josh and the other assembled others.

 

When it was over, Joshua was totally jazzed

by his selective inclusion in this dynamic spectacle.

And when he got home, he proceeded to

excitedly relate the entire event to his mom.

 

I got this photo of Ray when he was walking

through the crowd before making his dive,

collecting money - when he saw me point my

camera at him, he looked directly at me,

and smiled this big, winning smile.

Purple

How the color purple affects us mentally and physically

 

-Uplifting

-Calming to mind and nerves

-Offers a sense of spirituality

-Encourages creativity

 

Source: www.squidoo.com/allaboutpurple

 

That's a photograph project and the idea is to hunt 100 photos and match them for given titles. I'm doing the list in random order.

Here's the project list -> Artistic Temperament Scavenger Hunt.

Yet more creatures!

 

• Gworjini: A very special species from Terramos that is classified as both a plant and an animal, somewhat similar to the Omgnogg. However, the Gworjini is a very intelligent humanoid rather than a sentient bush. Their skin is made entirely of plant matter, while the internal systems are made of flesh and blood. Thus, they are true Omnitrophs. The vast majority of their population lives inside and around the Guardian of Terramos, though a few have left home to travel as far as to other planets, for some strange reason or another. Also, the Gworjini are one of the very few races in the Prime Galaxy whose females are both physically and intellectually superior to the males, which are short and stout while the women of the species are much taller and leaner, with three large breasts and a beautiful flower blooming on top of them as opposed to the males who only have a short antenna on top of their heads. The reason they were created this way, if any, is unknown. The range of their durability value goes from about 400 to 800, with higher values usually belonging to the females.

 

• Mirtrode (Nirtrid King): A special sub–species of the Nirtrids, the Mirtrodes are the most humanoid creatures in the Nirtrid family. Unlike their spawn, they somewhat resemble humanoids and could be considered beast–hominids. They are the patriarchs of the Nirtrid race, as all “Pure”, first–generation Nirtrids come from them. Having multiple sexual organs, it rapidly impregnates the related “Nirtrid Queen”, which has multiple separate reproductive systems and a very short incubation period, which accounts for the high population and diversity of the little monsters. Mirtrodes are also much stronger than they appear, having durability values of over 1,000 and channeling Primal Energies throughout their bodies. Still, this power pales in comparison to that of the creature’s female counterpart. Each Nirtrid King lives with one Nirtrid Queen deep at the center of their Nirtrid den, and only one patriarch/matriarch pair exists per hive. As such, Mirtrodes are very rarely seen up close, unlike their spawn.

 

• Bivangrante: A type of high–tier angel found in Paradise and the other upper Heavenly Realms as a class of holy guard. Bivangrantes are incredibly powerful. With neon glowing bodies, claws that can pierce easily through all forms of matter, and halos of pink electrokinetic Rainbow Energy, they each stand over two meters tall, are made of unfathomably dense extra–corporeal matter similar to what is found inside of a star, and are physically stronger and have higher fighting skill than any mortal warrior (without any special powers, that is). One of them can easily defeat a DeyRhine in a fight, despite having a considerably lower durability value of “only” about 3,000, and they are also capable of taking down most types of Deadly Sin Archfiends. The only major varieties of angel more powerful are the seven Archangels, and the Djinn/Arch–Djinn.

 

• Errvwarp: A deadly flying parasite from Gorlune that latches onto the head of its victim with its grizzly “arms” and stabs its poisoned stinger into their skull, resulting in a horrible, slow death and sucking out the victim’s brain juices so that the Errvwarp can consume them into its own brain and become more powerful. The poison that this creature produces is deadly to all species other than itself, and gallons of said poison are stored in the form of yellow liquid inside it’s transparent cranium, where the multiple, wriggling tentacle–like brains are also clearly visible. The monster’s brains actually need to remain submerged in the poison liquid for it to survive, paradoxically enough, so breaking the glass–like but still very hard skull will kill it. The Errvwarp’s durability value is somewhere near 600; it has not been studied extensively enough to obtain an exact measure. This creature’s extremely dangerous attributes make it an ideal asset for offensive warfare, and indeed, the Skellen have managed to domesticate them and frequently unleash them in packs upon their enemies.

 

• Zuckocone: Large and hardy, not to mention colorful, humanoids from Yominasst, they have a single eye as well as a single horn on their backs. Their durability value has the potential to break to 1,000 threshold, and their fists can break through boulders. Despite their monstrous appearance and great brute strength, they are a peaceful, and Godly race, like most in the Delta Octant, and in fact even moreso than many, to the point of them almost being pacifists. Almost. They’re very smart as well. Also, a notable and unique feature of the Zuckocone is that the males carry the offspring, which develop inside the upper torso and can be visibly seen through a soft spot in the body next to the head. This has been noted by other races to be rather “creepy”.

 

• Trylepibe: A race of small and rather dull humanoids native to Zornemim. They naturally live in medium–sized tribes in and around caves scattered sparsely across the planet’s surface, but have for many years now been almost completely enslaved by the Demioids, who have also effectively brainwashed most of the population, though most are manual laborers rather than warriors. Trylepibes’ seemingly featureless arms are actually home to thousands of invisibly small feelers, which allow them to stimulate any surface with the as much of their limbs are touched to it. Most of their body is very hard, but a glaring weakness lies in both their chest and cranium, which for some reason partially expose the ribcage and brain, respectively, are much more vulnerable than the rest of the body and can be quite easily pierced/torn open. Because of this, their durability value is rather difficult to calculate, but can be averaged out to be about 500.

 

• Rai Raymut: A being that exists on the desolate planet of Murshunk, in the Zeta Octant. They are one of very few living organisms on a planet with very low biodiversity and an inhospitably hot and dry environment. In fact, they are the second largest creatures present on Murshunk (at over two feet), the third being less than a quarter of its size and the first being the unique special creation Stusthara. Rai Raymuts are tribal hunter–gatherer beasts that live on the sparse supplies of insects and plants on their planet, having a very high threshold for hunger that has allowed them to survive on Murshunk for centuries. Their main, and highly unique (for a mortal creature), defense mechanism is a powerful blast of Rainbow Energy released from their “faces”, which indeed have extra–corporeal properties, most likely as a result of their prolonged exposure to the magical rainbows produced by Stusthara. A secondary defense is the lashing of their tails. The Rai Raymut's durability value is 400–550.

 

(Custodian's Note: The following four small creatures all come from Hulptos)

 

• Porflark: A type of fish with pinkish–purple skin and sight mammalian features, which can breathe air but not survive on dry land. They reach out at food with their long, adhesive tongues, which extend for over fifteen inches. The diet includes, among other things, young Esmerolp, while mature ones are capable of harming the Porflark, at least in groups of two or more, which are rare. They’re also recognized for their strangely shaped and proportionally massive male sexual organs. Their durability value is about 200.

 

• Hemahane: A red–colored crustacean with a spiny shell covering most of its body and a large, variable number of legs. Unlike the Qudsarb, the shell is actually part of the Hemahane’s body and grows around them during infancy. Red tendrils grow from the male’s shell during adulthood, which are used to attract mates. Hemahanes’ rugged teeth can break through certain softer types of rock, and some individuals are considerably larger than others. Its durability value is 150–250.

 

• Esmerolp: Having a bloated, striated chest and also being known as the “Jester Jellyfish”, the Esmerolp is only a few inches in size and is quite rare, being sought out by some humanoids as pets. One reason that the creature is so rare is because of the many creatures that seek to eat it, including the Porflark and the massive Wresher. Its durability value is only 100. Perhaps it really is better off as a sheltered pet than as an animal in the cruel wild.

 

• Qudsarb: A strange creature that lives inside a shell. They tend to be attracted to “homes” that are pink in color with blue dots on them, which are rare but naturally found on Hulptos. It is claimed by some that such shells provide insulating nutrients that increase the length of Qudsarbs’ lives, though this is only a theory. They have tiny mouths that can consume certain vegetation and tiny organisms, but they are primarily filter feeders. Their true bodies are very odd–looking, if not disgusting, consisting of numerous wriggling buds, which sometimes seep out through the shell, as seen here. Durability value is about 300 with the shell, 150 without.

 

• Vilvamion: The resident humanoid race of planet Jamblibam. Vilvamions are tall, limber and well–proportioned, having an ideal humanoid build that is arguably the closest to the human form itself (Connor Thorn being the only definite example of such that has ever been available to go by) out of all Nava–Verse humanoids. Their bodies, which can grow to be over six feet tall, are smooth and hairless. Their durability values are average, ranging from 500 to 700. The race's paradigm form (as well as its advanced intelligence) is particularly odd given that the Vilvamions live on a jungle planet that is otherwise totally wild and uncivilized. Indeed, the particular environment of Jamblibam has held back their ability to develop their own society significantly, as only scattered villages are possible to maintain there as opposed to a single interconnected, planet–encompassing civilization, which they would be more than capable of creating elsewhere. Nevertheless, the Vilvamions have been able to make the best of what they have on their planet. Their villages are fairly large, and their craftsmanship with wood, stone and clay is amazing. They spend a lot of time refining their building techniques and decorating their existing buildings; being unable to move on to the next developmental stage of civilization as long as they are on Jamblibam, they just keep building on what they do have. They have also attempted to utilize the caverns beneath the planet's surface as a travel network, but said caverns have proven to be far too dark, scary and occupied by monsters. Vilvamions maintain a steady and healthy meat–based diet derived from animals, the hunting of which is easier for them than for most since they are so skilled, and as for clothing/armor, they prefer wool and wooden, respectively.

A good number of Vilvamions have left Jamblibam and moved to more hospitable planets in hopes of broadening their horizons, and while some of them have found roles in more advanced societies, not enough of the overall population is willing to leave the aforementioned planet for the race to form a proper, independent civilization of its own elsewhere.

About Dr.Mihir Kumar Panda, Ph.D,D.Litt,, innovator

World’s only achiever of large number of World Record for 10,000 Teaching Aids & innovations

Founder & Co-ordinator General, ‘SROSTI’ (Social Development research Organisation for Science, technology & Implementation)

Collaborator Vijnana Bana Ashram

Bahanaga, Baleshwar, Odisha, India-756042

Website : simpleinnovationproject.com

E-Mail- : mihirpandasrosti@gmail.com

 

Face Book link:https://www.facebook.com/mihirpandasrosti

WIKIMAPIA

wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=-6.174348&lon=106.8293...

Contact No. : +91 7008406650

Whatsapp: +91 9438354515

 

Dr.Mihir Kumar Panda, an Educational, Societal and Scientific Innovator has established an NGO 'SROSTI' at Bahanaga, Balasore,Odisha,India

 

Dr. panda has innovated/invented more than 10,000 (ten thousand) teaching aids and different innovations and he has more than 30,000 (Thirty thousand) ideas to make scientific and mathematical models.

 

His creations are very essential guide for school and college science exhibitions, innovative learning and play way method for the teachers and students, science activists, innovators, craftsmen, farmers, masons, physically challenged persons, common men, entrepreneurs and industrialists.

 

He is popularizing science through song, innovative demonstrations and motivational speech since 1990 in different parts of Odisha state without taking any fees.

 

Dr. Panda is an extreme motivational speaker in science and possess magical scientific demonstration and a crowd puller.

 

Innovator Mihir Kumar Panda loves nature and in his agricultural farm he does not uses the chemicals , fertilizers and pesticides. In his farm even the smallest creatures like snakes, caterpillar, white ants, worms ,vermies are in peace and are managed successfully not to do harm.

 

Dr. Panda is an Educationist, an environmentalist, a poet for science popularization, a good orator, a best resource person to train others in specific field of science and engineering.

 

The uniqueness of Simple Innovation and scientific activities and achievements ofDr. Panda can not be assessed without visiting his laboratory which is a living wonder in the realm of science.

 

From a small cake cutter to mechanical scissor, from a play pump to rickshaw operated food grain spreader and from a village refrigerator to a multi-purpose machine, thousands of such inventions and innovations are proof of Dr. Panda's brilliance.

 

From a tube well operated washing machine to weight sensitive food grain separator, from a password protected wardrobe to automatic screen, from a Dual face fan to electricity producing fan are example of few thousands of innovations and inventions of Mihir Kumar Panda.

 

Dr.Mihir Kumar Panda though bestowed to a popular name as Einstein of Odisha is obliviously treated as Thomas Alva Edison of India.

 

Dr. Panda's residential house also resembles a museum with scientific innovations of different shapes and sizes stacked in every nook and cranny which proves his scientific involvement in personal life.

 

Innovator Panda believes that , the best thing a child can do with a toy to break it. he also believes that by Educating child in his/her choice subject/ passion a progressive nation can be built.

 

The shelf made scientist Dr. Panda believes that Education is a life long process whose scope is far greater than school curriculum. The moulding of models/ innovations done by hand always better than the things heard and the facts incorporated in the books.

 

With no agricultural background, Dr. Panda has developed unique natural bonsai in his Vijnana Bana Ashram which also shows path for earning just by uprooting and nurturing the plants which are found to be small and thumb in nature.

 

Dr. Panda's Scientific Endeavour and research is no doubt praise worthy. One cannot but believe his dedicated effort in simple innovation laboratory.

 

Social service, innovation/ inventions, writing, free technology to students for preparation of science exhibition projects, free technology to common men for their sustainability, preparation of big natural bonsai, technology for entrepreneurs and industrialists for innovative item are few works of Mihir Kumar Panda after his Government service.

 

. To overcome the difficulties of science and math, explanation in classes, innovator Panda has created few thousands of educational, societal and scientific innovations which helps teachers and students of the country and abroad.

 

Dr. Panda believes that though inventions/innovation has reached under thousands and thousands deep in the sea and high up in the space. It has reached on moon and mars, but unfortunately the sustainable inventions/innovation has not properly gone to the tiny tots and common people.

 

Dr. Panda is amazing and wizard of innovations and works with a principle the real scientist is he, who sees the things simply and works high.

 

Dr.Mihir Kumar Panda's work can be explained in short

 

Sports with Science from Dawn to Dusk

Struggle some life- science in words and action

Triumphs of Science - Science at foot path

Hilarious dream in midst scarcity

  

A life of innovator de-avoided of Advertisement.

  

FELICITATIONS, AWARDS, HONOURS & RECORDS

* 200+ Felicitation and Awards from different NGOs, Schools & Colleges within the State of Odisha and National level.

* 10 Nos Gold, Silver & Bronze medal from different National & International level.

*Awarded for 10,000 innovations & 30,000 ideas by Indian Science Congress Association, Govt. of India.

* Honorary Ph.D From Nelson Mandela University, United States of America

* Honorary Ph.D From Global Peace University, United States of America& India

* Honorary D.Litt From Global Peace University, United States of America& India

* Title ‘Einstein of Odisha’ by Assam Book of Records, Assam

* Title ‘Thomas Alva Edison of India’ by Anandashree Organisation, Mumbai

* Title ‘ Einstein of Odisha & Thomas Alva Edison of India’ from Bengal Book of World record.

*World Record from OMG Book of Records

*World Record from Assam Book of Records,

* World Record from World Genius Records, Nigeria

* World Record from BengalBook of Records

* National Record from Diamond Book of Records

* World Record from Asian World Records

* World Record from Champians Book of World Records

* World Record from The British World Records

* World Record from Gems Book of World Records

* World Record from India Star World Record

* World Record from Geniuses World Records

* World Record from Royal Success International Book of Records

*World Record from Supreme World Records

* World Record from Uttarpradesh World Records

*World Record from Exclusive World Records

*World Record from international Book of Records

*World Record from Incredible Book of records

* World Record from Cholan Book of World Record

* World Record from Bravo International Book of World Record

* World Record from High Range Book of World Record

* World Record from Kalam’s World Record

* World Record from Hope international World Record

* International Honours from Nigeria

* Indian icon Award from Global Records & Research Foundation (G.R.R.F.)

* International Award from USA for the year’2019 as INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR-2019

* National level Excellence Leadership Award-2020 from Anandashree Organisation, Mumbai

* Best Practical Demonstrator & Theory instructor from Collector & District Magistrate,

Balasore.

* Best Innovator Award by Bengal Book.

* Popular Indian Award by Bengal Book.

* Great man Award by Bengal Book.

* Best Indian Award by Bengal Book.

* The Man of the Era by Bengal Book.

IMPORTANT LINK FILES TO KNOW THE WORK OF

Dr. MIHIR KUMAR PANDA

Dr.Mihir Ku panda awarded at indian science congress Association, Govt. of India for 10000 innovations & 30,000 ideas

youtu.be/MFIh2AoEy_g

Hindi Media report- Simple innovation science show for popularisation of science in free of cost by Dr.Mihir Ku Panda

youtu.be/gPbJyB8aE2s

Simple innovation science show for popularisation of science in free of cost in different parts of India By Dr.Mihirku Panda

www.youtube.com/user/mihirkumarpanda/videos?view=0&so...

Simple innovation laboratory at a Glance

youtu.be/yNIIJHdNo6M

youtu.be/oPBdJpwYINI

youtu.be/XBR-e-tFVyE

youtu.be/3JjCnF7gqKA

youtu.be/raq_ZtllYRg

MORE LINK FILES OF Dr MIHIR KUMAR PANDA

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFIh2AoEy_g

www.youtube.com/channel/UCIksem1pJdDvK87ctJOlN1g

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHEAPp8V5MI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W43tAYO7wpQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=me43aso--Xg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XEeZjBDnu4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbJyB8aE2s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNIIJHdNo6M

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPBdJpwYINI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBR-e-tFVyE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JjCnF7gqKA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=raq_ZtllYRg

cholanbookofworldrecords.com/dr-mihir-kumar-pandaph-d-lit...

www.linkedin.com/in/dr-mihir-kumar-panda-ph-d-d-litt-inno...

www.bhubaneswarbuzz.com/updates/education/inspiring-odish...

www.millenniumpost.in/features/kiit-hosts-isca-national-s...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFE6c-XZoh0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzZ0XaZpJqQ

www.dailymotion.com/video/x2no10i

www.exclusiveworldrecords.com/description.aspx?id=320

omgbooksofrecords.com/

royalsuccessinternationalbookofrecords.com/home.php

british-world-records.business.site/posts/236093666996870...

www.tes.com/lessons/QKpLNO0seGI8Zg/experiments-in-science

dadasahebphalkefilmfoundation.com/2020/02/17/excellent-le...

www.facebook.com/…/a.102622791195…/103547424435915/… yearsP0-IR6tvlSw70ddBY_ySrBDerjoHhG0izBJwIBlqfh7QH9Qdo74EnhihXw35Iz8u-VUEmY&__tn__=EHH-R

wwwchampions-book-of-world-records.business.site/?fbclid=...

www.videomuzik.biz/video/motivational-science-show-ortalk...

lb.vlip.lv/channel/ST3PYAvIAou1RcZ/tTEq34EKxoToRqOK.html

imglade.com/tag/grassrootsinventions

picnano.com/tags/UnstoppableINDIAN

www.viveos.net/rev/mihirs%2Btrue%2Bnature

m.facebook.com/story.php…

www.facebook.com/worldgeniusrec…/…/2631029263841682…

 

www.upbr.in/record-galle…/upcoming-genius-innovator/…

 

www.geniusesworldrecordsandaward.com/

www.upbr.in/record-galle…/upcoming-genius-innovator/…

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=699422677473920&i...

www.facebook.com/internationalbookofrecords/

www.youtube.com/channel/UCBFJGiEx1Noba0x-NCWbwSg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL60GRF6avk

www.facebook.com/bengal.book.16/posts/122025902616062

www.facebook.com/bengal.book.16/posts/122877319197587

www.facebook.com/bengal.book.16/posts/119840549501264

supremebookofworldrecords.blogspot.com/…/welcome-to…

www.bravoworldrecords.com/

incrediblebookofrecords.in/index.php

www.highrangeworldrecords.com/

British Rail Class 373 25kV 20 car Electric Multiple Units (EMU) 373001 and 373224 (physically numbered as 3001 and 3224) as operated by Eurostar by the buffers at St. Pancras International Station in London (UK).

 

The Class 373 Eurostar units were built by Alstom and are also known as the Eurostar e300.

 

These Class 373 units were introduced into service from November 1994 and run alongside the much newer Class 374's along the HS1 (High Speed 1) line with 'Eurostar' services towards and through the Channel tunnel into Europe.

 

Most (less 8) of the remaining 27 Class 373 trainsets left in service out of 38 built are scheduled for withdrawal by 2020 and will be gradually replaced by the more European railway network friendly Siemens AG built Class 374 units.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_373

 

Note the Victorian architecture that dates back to 1868 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_railway_station

 

My King's Cross- St. Pancras album flic.kr/s/aHsk73sb2v

 

Photograph taken by and copyright of my regular photostream contributor David and is posted here with very kind permission.

It is no longer physically possible to get exact then and now shots at Weymouth in 2017 because the platforms that most trains used in 1967 are no longer there. The space they once occupied is now part of the adjoining car park, and the two main platforms in use now were, back then, the “excursion platforms” that didn’t actually get to see much traffic outside of the summer peak.

 

In consequence what we have here is more of a collage of Weymouth depicting trains off to Bournemouth and Waterloo.

 

The photograph top left was taken on 8t July 1967 and shows standard class 5 no. 73092 on the business end of the 1212 to Bournemouth that Saturday lunchtime. This was the last weekend of steam traction on the Southern Region and it would all be over by the close of play the following day so, needless to say, nobody was too bothered about the condition of the locomotives. 73092 hasn’t seen a cleaning rag for months; various inscriptions have been chalked on to the front end of the locomotive, but no-one cared – it would be on the scrap heap within 36 hours…

 

This was, incidentally the train I used to leave Weymouth on that day, so 73092 became the last steam locomotive that I saw in Weymouth station for exactly 50 years.

 

The photograph top right depicts the successor to the 1967 1212 departure for Bournemouth, the 1203 departure for Waterloo. This was a single class 444 5-car EMU and these are the standard fayre for that journey in 2017.

 

The photograph at the bottom depicts the next steam locomotive that I saw after 73092 on 8th July 1967. Actually “West Country” pacific no. 34046 Braunton, it has been masquerading as “Battle of Britain” class no. 34052 Lord Dowding for some time. In case anyone is wondering how a “West Country” can pretend to be a “Battle of Britain” class locomotive the answer is simple; the only difference between the two was in the choice of names, and this is a very early case of “badge engineering.” 34046/ 34052 is just leaving Weymouth for Waterloo with the “End of Southern Steam” special in the early evening of Saturday 8th July 2017.

  

Robotica Balletronica sculpture at Granville Island.

 

Metal Sculptor Greg Coffelt creates stunning, totally unique figurative masterpieces crafted from metals. Physically worked by hand and welded into place with an artisan’s passion for recreating the graceful essence of the human form, his medium, primarily steel, is some of the hardest material in the world to sculpt.

 

Coffelt was born in Long Beach, California in 1960. He showed interest in art from a very young age. However, the journey to his current success as a passionate figurative artist evolved through application of intellect and physical skills as a designer, craftsman, and general contractor. These various disciplines melded into Coffelt’s psyche a keen sense for structural design, fabrication technique, and studied sensitivity to materials as his hands guide the work.

 

Largely self-taught, Greg Coffelt was inspired by the works of Rodin and Michelangelo who are primary influences on his style and composition. Coffelt attended the prestigious Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach where he received an award from the Pacific Arts Foundation for the Best of the Best contest. Eschewing the path taken by many metal sculptors who work in cast bronze, Coffelt was seduced by the challenge and beauty of working in steel which allows him to create his unique signature style. Like many great artists before him, a thorough study of human anatomy has given Coffelt insight into the human form, and when combined with application of his practical experience and creative vision the artistic results are nothing less than awe inspiring.

 

Greg Coffelt began to sculpt seriously in steel in 2001, beginning the “Evolution of Eve” series. Steel is one of the hardest substances on earth to manipulate. A single sculpture can take the artist up to 9 months to create. When finished, it is plated in nickel. Each sculpture is an original. An exact copy would be impossible. Therefore, every Coffelt creation is truly “one-of-a-kind”. To the best of our knowledge, nothing quite like Coffelt’s art exists anywhere in the world.

 

Greg Coffelt’s sculptures make a stunning statement in any living space, corporate environment, or on public display. Miranda Galleries is immensely proud to represent this exceptional, rare talent.

 

His Facebook page... www.facebook.com/artistsculptorgreg.coffelt

I thoroughly enjoyed my 11 Mar 2013, André Rieu concert this evening & will try to share a bit of what I saw & experienced today. I’m going to use a 24 hour clock to denote the time of day things took place.

 

I’d like to begin by saying thanks to the set up crew, the guys & gals behind the scene who do the really physically demanding, labor of setting up everything so the musicians can look good when it’s time. I, sincerely, appreciate all the hard work you do before & after each & every concert.

 

Thank you, Franco, Agnes, Gary, Roland, Cord, & Glenn for sharing a few minutes with me; you helped make this my best concert going experience, ever. During the next several hours I got 74 high resolution photos of many of the musicians which were taken before or during the concert. Copy this link, to see all the concert photos:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/bc_az/sets/72157632515414894/with/8...

 

1730 - After parking my car I started walking the 8-10 blocks to Comerica Theatre. Yes, I knew the concert didn’t begin until 2000 & that the doors wouldn’t even open til 1900, however I was in hopes of catching a glimpse of some of the musicians outside, before the concert started.

 

1740 - I’m approaching a local watering hole & there he is, Franco, who then turns to see who just called him by his name. He seems to remember me from our brief meeting several years ago when I first met Luca & Franco standing outside. I ask if I can take his photo & he agrees. I had to fish my camera out of my tote bag, was not expecting to need the camera so soon. Once it was around my neck, I took such a great photo of Franco that I’m going to have it put on a U.S. Postage Stamp. We shook hands & I left with a smile on my lips & a spring in my step thinking things were really starting off, RIGHT. My camera is now around my neck & secured to my tummy with a waist stabilizer so it is now readily accessible in case I have any additional chance encounters with any other musicians.

 

1750 - I’m now near the stage entrance & notice security has the street blocked off except for the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Security directs me to the place/area I need to be. When I look over I see Agnes sitting with one of the work crew. When I call out her, Agnes looks up, recognizes me, enthusiastically waves to me, realizes my plight, jumps up & makes a beeline across the street toward me & does so in high heels. Obviously, she remembers me from 7 years ago (2005). She was really happy to see me & see the photo on my T-shirt that Arthur took of me, Agnes, Suzan & Nadia. Agnes apparently clearly remembered our meeting 7 years ago & asked me how I’d been. I told Agnes I was still actively hiking in the Superstition Mountain Wilderness area, was physically active, had been to all of André’s concerts in Phoenix, she remembers seeing me at each concert. I personally congratulate Agnes on her marriage to Michael Fizzano. When I asked if I could take a photo of her, she took me by the arm, told security I was with her, & we walked across the street & into the secure area. Agnes insisted on wanting her photo taken with me, so one of the work crew agreed to take our photo, 4 of them by the buses. They are part of the photo set & will always be part of my memory of today.

 

1755 - Gary Bennett (Platin Tenor) comes up to Agnes & me & I mention that he is the ONLY Platin Tenor I’ve not photographed. Agnes leaves me after saying goodby so now I have the opportunity to talk to Gary & tell him how much a part of each concert he & the Platin Tenors are & that I especially enjoy their enthusiastic rendition of Libiamo. I got such a great photo of Gary that it to is going to be put on a U.S. Postage Stamp. Thank you Gary for sharing a few minutes of your day with me. I’ll be writing to you & using Gary Bennett postage stamps which made him laugh.

 

1759 - about this time Roland Lafosse (Double Bass), comes over & I tell him how much I enjoy the routine he & Noël put on. To my surprise he remembers me & the banner I held up toward him at one of the prior concerts several years ago. I ask if I may take his photo & he agrees. Getting photos of the musicians outside during daylight, just being themselves is a special moment. Roland, the photo of you is so good, I’m going to be writing to you using Roland Lafosse postage stamps. Thank you, Roland, for sharing a bit of your self & your time this afternoon.

 

I asked Roland if here were any new musicians in the orchestra tonight & could he give me their names. Vela (Harpist) is new & has been with the JSO for two weeks. I got several photos of Vela during the concert so you can attach a name to her face, which is the whole idea behind the JSO photo website.

 

www.AttachNamesToFaces.com

 

I leave the secure area near the stage entrance & start walking toward the front of the theatre on the opposite side of the street where I’m allowed.

 

1834 - Someone walking toward me looks familiar & when I ask, Cord, Cord Meyer, he looked please & says YES. I told him he was the one guy I was hoping to see outside the concert & that he has a reputation for being able to intelligently converse on a wide range of topics, which made him laugh. I asked Cord if Judith would be part of the choir tonight. You should have seen his eyes light up when he said YES, very enthusiastically. Cord seem really please that I knew Judith was his wife & agreed to let me take his photo. Sadly, Cord, when I got home & looked closely, I realized I botched the focus. Your photo is part of my photo set, however I feel so ashamed to have messed up. Hopefully, at some point in time I’ll have another chance to do right by you with a properly focused photo. I owe you Cord, BIG TIME & I’m not going to forget it. Maybe next time I can get a photo of you & Judith, together. By the way, I took a couple photos of Judith during the concert that came out really nice & she is looking right into my lens.

 

1900 - The doors open & I’m very nervous about whether or not security will allow me to enter with my camera, which I decide to continue to wear around my neck & secured to my tummy with the waist stabilizer, meaning the camera is right out in the open & is as visible as me. Decided NOT to try to smuggle it in this year.

 

No problem, security waved me through after taking a peek inside my tote bag that only contained a spare battery & a water repellent wind breaker for later in the evening & after the concert.

 

Once inside, I spent the $20.00 for the full color printed brochure/program & much to my dismay quickly realized AGAIN, just like last time, there was no insert with the planned musical program. grrrrrr.....I sure wish someone can do whatever is necessary so we concert goers here in Phoenix can get an insert showing the planned musical program for the evening.

 

1945 - 2000 I’m sitting in my very comfortable & well padded theatre chair talking with those around me....me & my big mouth. No one has been to an André concert, this will be a first, for them all. I explained André & the violinists would walk right down the isle right past us at the beginning of the concert & to turn around when they begin SeventySix Trombones. Everyone had seen how they began some of the DVD, but didn’t know this concert would begin just like the DVD. I told those around me that Paul Anka would be a surprise guest tonight. And several of the ladies told me how much they enjoyed Paul’s singing when they were just girls in high school.

 

I told those around me about andrerieufans.com & the JSO photo website; & one guy wanted to know if a brunette soprano soloist would be singing tonight. I told him Carmen Monarcha was here tonight, but that I didn’t know what songs she’d be singing. The guy was really happy & his wife said something about him having the “hots” for Carmen.

 

2000 - the concert began, as usual, promptly @2000, as scheduled. And then I saw something I could hardly believe. As André came down past, the guy in front of me stuck out his hand, offering & wanting to shake André’s hand ......and André clasped the guys hand & briefly shook hands with him. I told him later, that André seldom wants to shake hands because his hand was once slightly injured because some guy squeezed it so tightly.

 

2007 - Frédéric Jenniges (Zither) was the first guest & received an enthusiastic ovation after playing the Third Man Theme, something that all Americans know. I got several really good photos of Frédéric during his performance that are included in the concert photos set. I was 21 rows back however the 25mm-600mm zoom camera lens brought Frédéric up close & personal in my photos when I used the maximum 600mm zoom.

 

2020 - The Platin Tenors sang several songs including Nessum Dorma & parts of tonights audience stood & enthusiastically applauded the Tenors & other performers all evening. A couple of prior concerts, the audiences were like stones, not tonight. I got several high resolution photos of the Platin Tenors during their performance, from 21 rows back.

 

2036 - Snow Waltz is even more beautiful when seeing & listening to the JSO play it live than on DVD. The acoustics in Comerica Theatre are the BEST acoustics of any venue in Phoenix & it showed throughout the concert. This is the number where snow lightly falls on a part of the audience during the music & then cascades a blanket of snow at the end. Much to the delight of everyone, the camera focused on those that were trying to clean themselves of all the snow.

 

2045 - Stéphanie Detry (Piano) - was the featured pianist playing, Ballad for Adeline on #7 musical selection on the And The Waltz Goes On, DVD. In my opinion, Stéphanie has been long overdue for a brief moment in the spotlight & this music showcased her musical talent at its BEST. It never ceases to amaze me how much nicer it is to see & hear the music live during a concert than on a DVD. Tonights rendition showed off Stéphanie & her talent, at their BEST, & the audience responded with an enthusiastic applause. Sadly, Stéphanie is one of the few musicians I didn’t get a photo of tonight. I have you on my list to be sure to get a good photo of you during the next concert, Stéphanie.

 

During the intermission I went down to the front hoping to get a photo of Pierre; didn’t see him before the concert, during the intermission, or after the concert.

 

Karin Hinze (Cello) was conspicuous by her absence tonight. Karin & Agnes sent me a beautiful autographed photo of themselves together several years ago. The photo has been prominently enshrined on my entertainment center.

 

I really missed seeing & hearing Carla, Mirusia, & Suzan tonight. I also missed seeing Alicja (Harp), Sonja (Violin), Renate (Bassoon), Pierre Colen (Viola); Jean Sassen (Double Bass); & Heidi (Choir).

 

There is a new harpist Vela & I have several nice photos of her.

 

2110 - The 2nd part of the concert began with André introducing the St Petersburg Trio & their performance included Lara’s Theme & Kalinka. I got some good photos of them as a Trio during their performance & also individually. From left to right, the musical instruments are Mandolin/Bayan; Button Accordion, & Balalakia.

 

2150 - Kimmy Skota (Soprano Soloist) came on stage, & sang Casta Diva & got a standing ovation. I did get a great photo of Kimmy later in the concert.

 

Carmen Monarcha (Soprano Soloist); sang Habanera with emotion, flirted with André, & the entire audience, all at the same time. I did get a great photo of her later in the concert which I took during the encores.

 

I got down in front of the stage & danced to the Blue Danube with my hiking buddy who is now my waltzing partner, Mary Lee. We’ve both looked forwarded to this chance & grabbed it.

 

2205 - Glenn (son) & Marcel Falize (father) Percussion - appeared on stage together & as a duet performed the very difficult Bolero. An appreciative audience responded with an enthusiastic applause, with a significant number standing & clapping. I have a couple of photos of Glenn & Marcel sharing a very personal moment, basking in the warm afterglow of sharing center stage together as not only performers, but as father & son. Clearly, in the photo, Marcel is a very proud father. These two photos brought out the best of my 25mm - 600mm zoom lens.

 

When the encores began, I ran down the isle so I could get up as close to the stage as possible. I held up a banner that said “Manoe, Happy B-Day 10 Mar ??”, which she saw & acknowledged with a big, big smile. I have a couple of really nice photos of Manoe.

 

After the next encore I held up one more banner directed to Giedré Mundinaité (Violin) which said.....G G Marry MEeee, which I think caused her to blush. I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall for the next couple of days so I could hear all the zingers the guys in the JSO will toss at her. I have a really nice photo Giedré.

 

After all the performers came on stage & sang Adieu Mein Kleinner Gardeoffizer, everyone that that was the end of the concert. NOT so.

 

André brought out & introduced the surprise guest of the evening, Paul Anka.

Besides being a very popular singer with a number of hits in the 60’s, Paul is a prolific song writer & is the guy who wrote Frank Sinatra’s signature song, I’ll Do it My Way.

Paul sang that song & received a standing ovation from a very appreciative audience many of who remember Paul when they were teenagers. Paul’s still got it, with his voice & as a performer. This was a one time appearance for Paul with André.

 

2241 - The concert was over, people were leaving, the stage was empty except for one guy, Glenn Falize (Percussion). I went up to the front of the stage, look up & asked Glenn if he would allow me to take his photo & he said, of course, my pleasure

I didn’t bother looking to see what my camera took, which was a big mistake. * thanked Glenn & departed with a big smile on my face, knowing this was the best concert yet & this is the 6th time I seen André perform here in Phoenix.

 

Sadly, Glenn, when I got home & looked at the photo, I realized I totally botch the exposure. I have you on my list to be sure to get a photo of during the next concert here in Phoenix.

 

All in all, I can now only watch & wait for an announcement of your next concert here in Phoenix, André. Thank you for not only providing me with 6 wonderful concerts here in Phoenix, but for the 30 DVD’s I have at home that is often providing me with background music or entertainment. I bought your DVD’s to watch, trust me they’re not gathering dust. I’ve spent big bucks to buy all your DVD’s & I’m going to get my moneys worth by watching them over & over.

 

Vela, Joëlle, Margriet, Boris, Arthur, Nicolle, Karin Haine, Klaartje, Freya, are the name of just a few of the musicians I got photos of this evening.....I hope you enjoy each & every one of the 74 photos I took tonight.